President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. does not see any reason to remove Vice President Sara Duterte from his cabinet amid her rift with First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.
"I don't see the reason behind that," Marcos told reporters during the sidelines of an event in Occidental Mindoro on Tuesday, April 23.
"Any of the Cabinet secretaries will be replaced kapag hindi nila ginagawa 'yung trabaho nila. All the other things are not part of the discussion. Kapag hindi na kaya, nagkasakit, sabihin mo lang, papalitan ka namin. Kapag hindi talaga marunong o korap, tatanggalin ka talaga namin. Hindi naman ganoon si Inday," he added.
In an interview over the weekend, the First Lady admitted having ill feelings towards the Vice President.
Araneta-Marcos said the latter "crossed the line" when she laughed at the accusation of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte that Marcos was "bangag" or high on drugs during the Laban Kasama ang Bayan prayer rally in Davao City in January 2024.
"Nasaktan ako. I mean, my husband would do anything to protect you. You ran together 'di ba? Sama-sama tayo babangon muli. Pupunta ka sa rally, tatawagin yung presidente mong bangag, you'll going to laugh. Tama ba iyon? Even Leni never did that," she said.
On Monday, Vice President Duterte issued a video statement acknowledging the First Lady's right to have bad feelings towards her, but clarified that the sentiments were unrelated to her mandate as a public official.
