MANILA, Philippines — House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said he misses Vice President Sara Duterte, admitting that they don’t talk much anymore.
Romualdez made the admission when asked about his relationship with the Vice President, noting that he was Duterte’s campaign manager during the 2022 elections.
“I was her campaign manager, and we worked very hard together, and I was very, very happy that she was successfully elected with a very, very high mandate,” Romualdez said in a press conference on Friday.
“I congratulate her, I wish nothing but the best, I respect her, and sa totoo lang po, nami-miss ko siya kasi dati parati kami magkasama (and to be honest I miss her because we used to be together all the time). Pero our work now — she as the secretary of DepEd and Vice President and me as a Speaker — we don’t see each other as much…” he also said.
Sara Duterte was asked about his relationship with Romualdez, which she did not answer directly.
However, quoting Senator Imee Marcos, Duterte said that Romualdez is attacking the ally of the administration.
READ: VP Duterte on relationship with Romualdez: Why attack admin allies?
Romualdez, in response, said it’s up to Duterte if she would rather believe a certain senator and other “marites,” or slang for gossipmongers.
“On my part, I have not attacked any ally of this administration, I do not know what she’s talking about,” Romualdez said. “For the Vice President, I respect the Vice President. As my vice president, as my secretary of Education, she has my full support. I don’t know what I have said and done to attack her. Please identify those actuations, if any,” Romualdez said.
“Kung nakikinig siya sa mga marites, sa mga sinong senadora dyan, (If she listens to gossip or to some other senators), that’s up to her,” he added.
Speculations of a rift between Duterte and Romualdez emerged in early 2023.
Such rumors intensified when the House of Representatives blocked the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education’s confidential funds in the 2024 budget.
Impeachment rumors against Duterte also circulated within the lower chamber around Nov. 2023, according to ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, but Romualdez and other House leaders denied this.