Marcos, ex-president Duterte seek Sara’s help for 2025 polls

LAST DAY Vice President Sara Duterte takes a selfie with her successor, incoming Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara, and other education officials at Thursday’s turnover ceremony. —LYN RILLON

Vice President Sara Duterte remained coy about her reasons for resigning as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary, saying only she did it for personal and professional reasons.

“It’s a long story and we need to sit down to discuss it,” she told reporters on Thursday after a program where she turned over leadership of the DepEd to Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara.

Duterte said one reason was “slightly personal” and had something to do with what she discussed with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “before I agreed to run as [his] vice president.”

Another was professional, while the other was “about the country,” she added.

Duterte denied that first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos had something to do with her decision, saying the latter had nothing to do with her job.

Araneta-Marcos earlier criticized Duterte for not coming to the President’s defense after her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, accused Mr. Marcos of using drugs.

Her resignation from the Cabinet further backed speculations of a split between her and her former running mate in the 2022 national elections.

Support sought

Still, Duterte said she and the President had a discussion and that he asked her to help the administration’s candidates in the 2025 midterm elections.

She added that she had a separate meeting with her father, who also made a similar request for candidates of his Partido Demokratiko Pilipino,

The Vice President, however, said she did not commit to either one “because I need to think first about what would be my direction for the midterm elections next year.”

During her speech at the turnover ceremony, Duterte told Angara, “Welcome to the chaos,” drawing laughter from him and the audience.

She recalled some of the programs that began under her leadership in the DepEd, such as the launching of the new “Matatag” curriculum, the review of the senior high school curriculum, and the funding and launching of DepEd’s mental health program, among others.

For his part, Angara said he would hit the ground running, “and we want to learn from all of you here as we go along.”