FILE PHOTO: First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos (left) and Vice Pres. Sara Duterte (right). INQUIRER FILES/INDAY SARA DUTERTE FACEBOOK PAGE
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte brushed aside First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos’ “personal feelings” and chose to seek a “private talk” with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. regarding his wife’s controversial interview.
For Duterte, Araneta-Marcos’ sentiments about her have nothing to do with her work as vice president of the country.
On April 19, the first lady admitted that she was offended by Duterte, who attended a rally where the Vice President’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, called Marcos “bangag”, a slang term for a drug user.
READ: Liza Marcos admits snubbing Sara Duterte: ‘Bad shot na ’yan sa akin’
“Upang makausad tayo, iiwan na natin sa isang pribadong pag-uusap sa pagitan lamang namin ni Pangulong ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. ang mga susunod na hakbang,” Vice President Duterte said in a video posted on Facebook on Monday.
(For us to move forward, we will leave the next steps to a private conversation just between me and President Bongbong Marcos.)
“Mga kababayan, bilang tao, karapatan ni Unang Ginang Liza Marcos na makaramdam ng sama ng loob at galit. Subalit ang kanyang personal na damdamin ay walang kinalaman sa aking mandato bilang isang opisyal ng pamahalaan,” she also said.
(Fellow countrymen, as a human being, it is the right of First Lady Liza Marcos to feel resentment and anger. But her personal feelings have nothing to do with my mandate as a government official.)
Sara Duterte even said it would be better to focus on the country’s problems, such as poverty, energy shortages, criminality and terrorism.
READ: First Lady Liza hints at possible tension with Imee Marcos
In an exclusive interview on Tune-in Kay Tunying, Araneta-Marcos admitted to snubbing the Vice President following her attendance at the controversial prayer rally organized by the Duterte family in their hometown Davao City in January.
For the first lady, the Vice President crossed the line when she laughed as her husband, President Marcos, was called a drug addict.
Araneta-Marcos said in the same interview that she was “always kind” to Sara Duterte, her husband’s running mate in the 2022 presidential elections.
But now, “Bad shot na ’yan sa akin (She’s now in my bad graces),” she said when asked if there was any hope of reconciliation between her and Sara Duterte.
“My husband will do everything to protect you. You ran together, ‘di ba, sama-saba tayo babangon muli. Pupunta ka sa rally, tawagan ‘yung presidente mong bangag, ‘di ba? Tama ba yan? Even Leni never did that,” Araneta-Marcos likewise said, referring to former vice president Leni Robredo.
(My husband will do everything to protect you. You ran together, right? And we will stand again together. You go to a rally denouncing the President as a drug addict, right? Is that right? Even Leni never did that.)