In a stunning turn of political events, former speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Friday declared his all-out support for Vice President Sara Duterte to lead the opposition following her sudden irrevocable decision to depart the Marcos Cabinet.

Alvarez said Duterte is better off alone, free to move in pursuit of serving the public, without the shackles imposed upon her “by those who made it appear that they were willing to work with her but, at the same time, set up traps along the way to make sure that she failed.”

“Should she decide, she can also be the representation of a genuine opposition that will serve as the check and balance against the shortcomings and overextensions of the Marcos administration,” said the Davao del Norte lawmaker.

“In a healthy democracy, an opposition that provides an alternative point of view on how the country is being governed is a must. Whoever that person is that represents the best interests of the people and the whole country, we will follow,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez’s pronouncement was unusual considering his bitter feud with the VP that is well known.

Alvarez once called Duterte a member of the “opposition” after she established in 2018 the Hugpong ng Pagbabago, a regional political party not allied with the once-ruling Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), whose members include Alvarez and the VP’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Alvarez’s ouster from the House speakership during the 17th Congress was also rumored to have had the backing of Sara.

Just days after the VP stepped down from her post as Secretary of Education and co-chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, Alvarez was seemingly sympathetic toward her, saying that she performed “extraordinarily well and with dedication” as a member of the Marcos Cabinet despite unfortunate persistent orchestrated moves to “discredit and delegitimize her from the very beginning of her term.”

Nevertheless, Alvarez said, he trusts in the VP’s decisions as she navigates Philippine politics.

Duterte’s sudden departure from the Marcos Cabinet further fueled speculation that the “UniTeam,” which brought the Marcos-Duterte tandem to power, has been dissolved.

Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also called the younger Duterte the new opposition leader.

LP is the opposition

Meanwhile, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, the president of the once-ruling Liberal Party, said that while Duterte may assume the leadership of the partisan opposition to the Marcos administration, the LP “remains the ideological and conscientious opposition to both the current administration and Duterte’s breakaway power bloc.”