VP Sara's tirades vs Marcos draw mixed reactions from lawmakers

Lawmakers from both houses of Congress on Saturday weighed in on the statements of Vice President Sara Duterte against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., her running mate in the 2022 elections.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Duterte criticized Marcos' leadership, claiming the president seemed to have no idea how to address inflation and guarantee food security.

Duterte, who resigned as education secretary in July, said she realized that her relationship with Marcos had become "toxic" when she started having thoughts about "cutting his head off.''

She also believed Marcos had just used her to defeat former Vice President Leni Robredo, who finished second in the presidential contest.

The vice president also recalled telling Senator Imee Marcos, the president's elder sister, that she would dig up and dump the remains of former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. into the West Philippine Sea if the attacks against her did not stop.

Malacañang refused to comment on the remarks made by the vice president.

For Senate President Francis Escudero, Duterte's statements were ''unbecoming'' of the country's second highest elected official.

“Unbecoming para sa akin yung mga ganyang uri ng pahayag, lalo na sa pangalawang pinakamataas na opisyal ng ating bansa, at para patulan ko pa at ng iba pa, baka mas binibigyan pa natin ang kahalagahan… Siguro hayaan na lamang natin na maglabas ng sama ng loob si Vice President Duterte,” he said in a radio interview on Saturday.

(Those kinds of statements are unbecoming, especially for the second highest official in our country, and for me or other people to comment on it might give it more meaning… I think we should just let Vice President Duterte express her sentiments.)

Escudero hopes that the vice president will exercise caution in her public pronouncements.

“Sana maging mas mapanuri at sana maging mas maingat sa mga salita ang bibitiwan. Bahagi marahil ang paglalabas ng sama ng loob sa buhay ng tao, pero hindi siguro rason at lisensya din yun na buksan ang mga paggamit ng salita na napapakinggan bata ba o matanda.” he told radio station dwIZ.

(I hope she will be more discerning and more careful of the words she says. Perhaps it is because she is expressing her resentment, but I don’t think it should be a reason or license for her to say those words that may be heard by children or the elderly.)

In a separate interview with dwIZ, Senator Ronald ''Bato'' Dela Rosa said it's up to the people to judge Duterte's statements, but ''at least the vice president was truthful enough and honest enough to say something about her sentiments.''

''Hindi siya plastic na tao. Kilala natin 'yan, na prangka na tao 'yan,'' he said.

(She's not fake. We know her as a frank person.)

Dela Rosa said that Duterte's remarks on the remains of the elder Marcos simply demonstrated the vice president's candor to the extent of using "figure of speech."

''You get what you say; you get what you see; you see what you get. Ganon 'yan mga Duterte (The Dutertes are like that)," he said. 

In a statement, House Deputy Majority Leader Jude Acidre said Duterte ''continues to engage in politicking at a time when the nation demands unity and decisive action.''

Acidre said that Duterte had chosen to brush aside the issues against her, especially on the management of public funds, as "mere political attacks."

''Such an approach only exacerbates the divisions in our country, undermining the stability we desperately need for national development and progress,'' he added.

House Assistant Majority Leader Mika Suansing, meanwhile, asked Duterte ''to instead focus on working with all of us for the welfare of the Filipino people.'' — Jiselle Anne Casucian/VBL, GMA Integrated News