President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. (L) and former President Rodrigo Duterte. | PHOTOS: Official facebook pages of Bongbong Marcos and Rody Duterte
MANILA, Philippines — “It’s complicated.”
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. made this reply on Monday when asked about his relationship with the Duterte clan.
He said, however, that his working relationship with Vice President Sara Duterte remained the same.
READ: What ‘pasyal’? Marcos reacts to Duterte sneer on his travels
READ: Duterte accuses Marcos of aiming term extension like his father
“I have the most contact with Inday Sara and how we were with each other during the campaign, after the election, it hasn’t really changed,” he said.
He also said the vice president chose to focus on her job amid all the controversies.
“She says, ‘No, I’ll just work. Don’t worry about it. I’ll just work and work and work and work.’ That’s her attitude,” the president said.
The Dutertes unleashed a barrage of attacks against Marcos Jr. this year, further widening the rift between two political powerhouses. But Vice President Duterte remained mum amid all the tension.
In January, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte dared Marcos Jr. to resign while his father’s supporters gathered to voice their opposition to Charter change, in an apparent show of force concurrent to the Marcos’ Bagong Pilipinas kick-off rally in Manila.
Former president Duterte then accused Marcos of using illegal drugs. Marcos, in response to Duterte’s verbal assault, said he thinks “it’s the fentanyl” speaking. The former president, the chief architect of the war on drugs that claimed thousands of lives, admitted using fentanyl as a pain killer.
READ: ‘It’s the fentanyl,’ Marcos says after former president Duterte tags him ‘drug addict’
Duterte in March also slammed Marcos over his travels abroad, which the latter shrugged off.
READ: Marcos to Duterte: No place for ad hominem attacks in important talks
Last week, Duterte called Marcos a “crybaby”, accusing the incumbent president of being pro-America in view of tensions in the West Philippine Sea.
Marcos, however, reminded Duterte the ad hominem attacks have no place in light of such matters.