Uniteam no more: Timeline of Marcos-Duterte tandem's woes

Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday resigned from her Cabinet posts in the Marcos administration just two years after the Uniteam's successful campaign in the 2022 national elections.

Duterte's resignation comes just a few months after President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. described the Uniteam as "vibrant, still working, and still there."

But several instances proved otherwise which seems to have culminated in Duterte quitting her post as Department of Education secretary and vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

Here is a timeline of the things that transpired with the Uniteam before Duterte's decision.

May 17, 2023
 
The House of Representatives removed former President, Pampanga lawmaker and Lakas-CMD Chairman Emeritus Gloria Arroyo as Senior Deputy Speaker, demoting her to Deputy Speaker to supposedly take burden off her.

May 19, 2023

Vice President Sara Duterte resigned from ruling party Lakas-CMD as its chairperson and a member, saying that she won’t be able to serve the country amid "political toxicity“ or undermined by "execrable political powerplay." 

She did not drop names, but Lakas-CMD’s President and Duterte’s 2022 campaign manager is Speaker Martin Romualdez, cousin of Marcos.

Marcos, on the same day, said Arroyo’s demotion was just normal Congress business.

Arroyo also denied plotting Romualdez's ouster as Speaker. 

May 21, 2023

Vice President Duterte posts a cryptic Instagram post warning the public against people who are tambaloslos. She explained that "Tambaloslos in Bisaya may be interpreted as a joke. It may also be interpreted as an insult."

 During the same day, Romualdez said efforts to destabilize the House and unseat him as Speaker should be nipped in the bud.

June 5, 2023

Vice President Duterte refuses to mention the President’s middle name, Romualdez, in a speech during a Department of Education event.

At the “Pasidungog,” an event to pay tribute to the Office of the Vice President's stakeholders, Duterte acknowledged Marcos’ “all-out support” for the OVP.

“Hindi ko na banggitin ang middle initial niya… Apo, alam mo ‘yan na mahal kita,” a smiling Duterte said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

September 25, 2023

During the deliberations on the proposed 2024 budget, it was revealed that the OVP spent P125 million of its confidential funds in 2022 in just 11 days, even if the 2022 national budget did not provide for a budget item for confidential fund for the OVP.

September 27, 2023

House leaders announced that they are considering realigning the proposed P500 million confidential funds of the OVP to security agencies where this fund is urgently needed. 

October 5, 2023

Vice President Duterte hits back at confidential fund critics, saying those against the confidential fund are against peace and as such, those against peace are enemies of the state.

October 10, 2023

The House of Representatives officially strips OVP and four other agencies of over P1 billion of confidential fund under the proposed 2024 budget.
 

November 6, 2023

Speaker Romualdez vows to fight those who seek to malign the House after former President Duterte called the House as the most rotten institution and that its members had bellies full of pork barrel—lump sum amounts that lawmakers may allocate to projects after the passage of the General Appropriations Act.

November 7, 2023

The House of Representatives moved to remove Arroyo and Davao city lawmaker Isidro Ungab as Deputy Speakers because the two erstwhile Deputy Speakers were the only House leaders who did not sign House Resolution 1414 upholding the integrity and honor of the chamber and expressing appreciation, solidarity, and support for the leadership of Romualdez.
 

January 28, 2024

During a prayer rally in Davao City that coincided President Marcos Jr.’s Bagong Pilipinas rally in Manila, the Vice President’s father and former President Duterte called Marcos “bangag,” meaning high on drugs, as well as someone who wants to be a dictator just like his late father, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Moreover, the Vice President’s brother and Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte said Marcos should step down from his post because he lacks vision for the country. 

January 29, 2024

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency said the President was never on their drug watch list.

On the same day, the Vice President was still tasked by the President to be the caretaker while he was in Vietnam for a state visit despite the comments made against Marcos by father and son Rodrigo and Sebastian Duterte.

Before Marcos departs for Vietnam, the First Lady did not greet Duterte before she boarded the plane.  

January 31, 2024

The Vice President thanks the President for the trust, saying she does not always need to agree with her family members.

February 2024

The Vice President said herself and President Marcos Jr. do not have problems with each other and they have a good relationship.  

"We have no problem with each other. President Bongbong Marcos and I are doing good. We are okay in terms of our relationship," Duterte said when asked about her and the President.

Asked about her ties with First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, Sara said, "I have no comment as of this time."

April 13, 2024

President Marcos, Jr. defends his Vice President over criticisms that Duterte was not speaking out against Chinese aggression of Filipino vessels and personnel in the West Philippine Sea, saying that he is confident that the Vice President will personally talk to him in the event she disagrees with the policy of the administration.

April 18, 2024

First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos said the Vice President is already on her bad side, given that she allowed her father to make disparaging comments on her husband and President Marcos Jr.

The First Lady said she was hurt when Duterte attended a rally where the President was called "bangag" (high on illegal drugs). 

“For me, nasaktan ako because my husband will do everything to protect you. You ran together ‘di ba—sama sama tayong babangon muli,” Liza Marcos told journalist Anthony Taberna. 

(I was hurt because my husband will do everything to protect you. You ran together during the elections, right—we will rise together.) 

“Pupunta ka sa rally, tatawagin ‘yung Presidente mong ‘bangag,’ ‘di ba, you’re going to laugh? Tama ba ‘yan? Even Leni [Robredo] never did that,” she added. 

(You went to a rally, then the President gets called bangag, and then you’re going to laugh? Is that right? Even Leni [Robredo] never did that.) 

April 23, 2024

President Marcos Jr. says there is no reason to replace the Vice President as Education chief, saying "Kapag hindi talaga marunong o corrupt, tatanggalin ka talaga namin. Hindi naman ganoon si Inday.”

''Why? I don't see the reason behind that,'' Marcos said in an ambush interview in Occidental Mindoro. 

''Any of the Cabinet secretaries will be replaced kapag hindi nila ginagawa 'yung trabaho nila. All the other things are not part of the discussion," added Marcos.

(They will be replaced if they are not doing their jobs.)

"Kapag hindi talaga marunong o corrupt, tatanggalin ka talaga namin. Hindi naman ganoon si Inday,'' emphasized the President. 

(If they are incompetent or corrupt, we will replace you. But Inday is not like that.)

June 2024

Vice President Duterte resigns from the Marcos Cabinet. Duterte said her resignation as Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) was not due to weakness, but out of concern for teachers and students.

She said she gave a 30-day notice “to ensure the proper and orderly transition for the benefit of the next Secretary.”

“Mga kababayan, ang aking pagbibitiw ay hindi lulan ng kahinaan kundi dala ng tunay na malasakit para sa ating mga guro at kabataang Pilipino,” she said.

(Although I will not continue heading the Department, I will continue to promote the quality of education that Filipinos deserve.)

Duterte refused to answer follow-up questions from the media after giving her statement. --VAL/RF, GMA Integrated News