Duterte made her call at a rally along Elliptical Road in Quezon City following her appearance at the Regional Trial Court where her arraignment on grave threats charges was postponed.
Addressing the crowd of supporters, she accused the Marcos administration of abusing its power and pursuing her allies and political opponents.
“Resign, umalis ka dyan. Sinungaling ka, abusado ka, korap ka (Get out of there. You are a liar, you’re abusive, and corrupt),” Duterte addressed the cheering crowd.
“Remember, we will continue to call for the removal of the problem plaguing our country, and that problem is Bongbong Marcos,” she said.
Marcos and Duterte ran together under the UniTeam banner, combining two of the country’s most powerful political dynasties after Sara, then the mayor of Davao City and daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, joined the late dictator’s son’s presidential campaign.
Their partnership combined the political machinery of the Marcos and Duterte dynasties and helped Marcos win the presidency with nearly 59 percent of the vote.
After taking office in June 2022, Duterte also served as Marcos’ education secretary, giving the administration a powerful political partnership at the highest levels of government.
But the alliance deteriorated over the following two years. Duterte resigned as education secretary as tensions between the two political camps became increasingly public.
The rupture became especially stark later in 2024. Duterte said she and Marcos had never been friends and were merely running mates in the 2022 election. Marcos responded that he felt “deceived” about their supposed friendship.
The split deepened as former president Duterte became increasingly critical of Marcos. Policy differences, including Marcos’s shift toward closer security ties with the United States and away from Rodrigo’s China-friendly approach, also widened the divide.
By Friday, Sara Duterte was no longer calling merely for a political break. She was openly demanding that Marcos step down from the presidency.
Duterte also accused the administration of using government institutions to pursue her allies and political opponents, and attacked Marcos over corruption allegations and the government’s handling of the country’s problems.
“Calling for an addict to resign must continue until it finally gets through his damaged mind that he is the problem of the nation,” Duterte said, alluding to recurring insinuations that Marcos used illegal drugs.
The feud has since moved beyond political rhetoric. VP Duterte is currently on trial before the Senate sitting as an impeachment court after the House of Representatives impeached her in May.
“The real drama is the filing of an impeachment case without evidence,” she said, accusing Congress of being used to search for evidence against her and her allies.
“Almost all of our senators have been consumed just to fulfill their desire for impeachment,” Duterte added.
Who approved flood projects?
Duterte also sought to turn the government’s widening flood control corruption scandal into a political liability for Marcos, questioning whether his administration would hold accountable those who approved anomalous projects and received kickbacks.
At the rally, Duterte cited the arrest of former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, a Marcos cousin and ally.
“Someone approved the project, and someone handed him the money. That is the real drama,” she told supporters.
“The only ones being put in jail are the one who wrote the project and the one who distributed the money. What about the person who gave him the money and the one who approved the project? Where are they?” she added.
Palace strikes back
Malacañang has said Marcos will not shield anyone who should be held accountable, regardless of whether the person is a relative, political ally, or opponent.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, who is in New Delhi, India with Marcos, said the President’s position was that “whoever should be held accountable must be held accountable.”
Castro hit back at VP Duterte, questioning whether she was in the right frame of mind when she lambasted the President and called him a drug addict, shameless and ungrateful.
“Was she in a lucid interval at the time? Was she in the right frame of mind? Perhaps this was brought on by sleepless nights and anxiety, which may have prevented her from thinking clearly and delivering a message befitting a vice president. The real Sara Duterte is showing,” Castro said during a briefing in Delhi.
Castro went through Duterte’s accusations one by one, addressing what she described as lies hurled by the Vice President.
She pointed to the arrest warrant served on Romualdez at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center by Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla, saying the public had watched the proceedings firsthand.
Castro recalled the statement of Remulla, that Duterte wanted “drama” when she wanted to be detained in Camp Crame instead of posting bail for the grave threats charges against her.
“Her frustrations probably stemmed from the fact that the script she wanted did not work. Our upright officials at the CIDG, DILG and PNP did not buy it,” Castro said.
Castro also challenged Duterte to address the flooding problem in Davao City, as the Marcos administration continues to pursue charges against those involved in the flood control scandal and address flooding nationwide.
“Our fellow Filipinos in Davao City are suffering because of the recurring flooding. Even your engineering department said that short-term and long-term solutions are needed, but apparently, you have not addressed this problem, Madam Vice President. Your father was president, and even now, the mayor and congressman are members of your family,” she said.
Drug dependent
On Duterte’s allegation that Marcos used illegal drugs, Castro reminded the Vice President that members of her own family had admitted to drug use.
“Former president Duterte himself admitted that he used marijuana, and he also admitted that he abused fentanyl because, as he said, it made him feel good, it put him on ‘cloud nine.’ When her father admitted that, did she call him an addict or ‘bangag’? Do not throw that accusation at President Marcos, who is working, taking action, and not merely going on vacations,” Castro said.
On the corruption allegations Duterte raised, Castro said these were among the issues in the impeachment trial of the Vice President.
