MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Sara Duterte quit President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Cabinet, putting the final nail in the coffin of the Uniteam political alliance that won the 2022 elections in a landslide.
Presidential Communications Office Secretary Cheloy Garafil said on Wednesday, June 19, that Duterte resigned as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary and vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict at 2:21 pm the same day.
Marcos has accepted the resignation.
“She declined to give a reason why. She will continue to serve as Vice President. We thank her for her service,” Garafil added.
In a press conference after her resignation, Duterte also did not provide a reason for her exit from the Marcos Cabinet, but said the move is not a sign of weakness.
“Mga kababayan, ang aking pagbibitiw ay hindi lulan ng kahinaan kundi dala ng tunay na malasakit para sa ating mga guro at kabataang Pilipino (My resignation is not from a place of weakness, but is brought about by my genuine concern for teachers and the Filipino youth),” Duterte said.
The Marcoses and the Dutertes – two major political families in the Philippines – teamed up in the 2022 polls, a partnership that catapulted the dictator’s son and the outgoing president’s daughter to the country’s two highest posts.
