‘Cracks’ in Uniteam but President, VP still good – Sen. Marcos

THE Uniteam party of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte has “cracks,” but the country’s top two leaders are still good, the Chief Executive’s older sibling said on Wednesday.

Sen. Maria Josefa Imelda “Imee” Marcos made the remark on Wednesday when asked if the Marcoses and the Dutertes are still on good terms.

Marcos and Duterte ran under the UniTeam banner in the 2022 presidential elections.

Speaking in Filipino during a press conference on Wednesday, Senator Marcos said she thinks there are really “cracks,” but the principals, referring to her brother and Duterte, were not “unruly.”

She said those causing trouble were “those on the sidelines — the demons and snakes on the fringes of the Palace.”

In a post on Facebook on January 29, the vice president defended her brother, Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, for criticizing the President, describing his statements as made out of “brotherly love coupled by the common sentiment that I do not deserve the despicable treatment that I am receiving from some sectors within the circle of the President.”

Senator Marcos also declined to take sides between her brother and Duterte’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, as they accused each other of drug abuse.

“Why should I be required to make a choice? I love them all, and I don’t want anything that will tarnish our name,” she said in Filipino and English.

Pressed to comment that the former leader had changed his attitude toward the President, Senator Marcos said, “It’s OK.”

She assured, however, that the “Uniteam principals are OK.”

“I think the President and the vice president are able to work together provided there’s no continuous interference from all kinds of harmful and destructive forces,” she said.

The President himself said in an interview that “nothing has changed” between him and the vice president.

The senator on Tuesday said the incumbent Davao City mayor apologized to her for demanding the resignation of her brother for being “lazy.”

Senator Marcos was asked on Tuesday to comment on the mayor’s rants against the President during a rally in Davao City last January 21.

“That’s crazy. That’s all I can say,” she said in a chance interview in Filipino.

Senator Marcos said Mayor Duterte approached her and “apologized profusely.”

“I asked him, ‘Hey, what was that? Why did you say those things?’ And he said, ‘Sorry, sorry.’ But I understand [him],” Senator Marcos said in Filipino.

“I understand [him] because he was very emotional. Imagine [the possibility of] your father will be jailed and your eldest sister [is reportedly being treated harshly],” she said.

There were reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) might soon issue a warrant of arrest against the former president, who was facing a human rights case before the ICC for his drug war where thousands of innocents were reportedly killed.

The senator declined to comment when asked about the former president’s allegation that his successor was a “drug addict.”

“I have nothing to do with that. It’s up to them. They can handle that [matter],” she said in Filipino.

Pressed whether she felt slighted when the Duterte father and son ganged up on her brother, the senator said, “It’s crazy. That’s all I can say.”

Former president Duterte’s allegation, however, was denied by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, which said that President Marcos was never on its list of drug offenders.