Featured image above of Vice President Inday Sara Z. Duterte taken from her official Facebook page.
Short link: https://wp.me/paaccn-CX7
- EDD K. USMAN | Twitter: @edd1819 | Instagram: @bluestar0910 | Facebook: SDN — SciTech & Digital News
(SDN) April 23, 2024 — Vice President Inday Sara Z. Duterte refuses to be drawn into a war of words with First Lady Araneta Marcos.
It appears the Vice President has taken comfort from what she described as the strong feelings the First Lady voiced out has nothing to do with her mandate as government official. And that Duterte has comported herself well amid the issue.
The concurrent secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), the Vice President issued a brief statement in Pilipino on Monday, April 22, on the issue that soured her relationship with the First Lady.
“Mga kababayan, bilang tao, karapatan ni Unang Ginang Liza Marcos na makaramdam ng sama ng loob at Galit,” Duterte conceded.
(Translation: My countrymen, as a human being, First Lady Liza Marcos has the right to feel bad and be angry.)
It can be recalled that in a recent interview over GMA 7 News done by broadcast journalist Anthony Taberna, the First Lady explained her bad feelings and anger towards the Vice President.
She said this was the incident when the Vice President laughed after her father, former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, described in a speech in Davao City that President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. was “bangag” (a Tagalog word that describes a person who has taken illegal drugs).
On the other hand, the Vice President hastened to add in her statement reaching SDN – SciTech and Digital News that the First Lady’s personal feelings have nothing to do with her (Vice President) mandate as an official of the government.
She appealed to Filipinos to let the issue be resolved between her and President Marcos so that “we can move forward”.
The President in her statement also spoke in her native Cebuano dialect, saying, roughly, the government has big problems that need to be resolved.
“We should be focused on responding to the problems our country is facing,” she emphasized.
The Vice President gave some examples on these problems, such as continued increase of food prices and other basic needs which are the ones making worse poor Filipinos’ hunger and the lack of enough food.
She said aside from this, there’s a looming scarcity of water supply and electricity, while illegal drugs have again become prevalent.
Meanwhile, the Vice President noted, the threats of criminality is still present, as well as terrorism and insurgency in the country.
“Let us put the Philippines first,” she appealed.
The Vice President as usual ended her statement with the Arabic word “Shukran”, which means “Thank you”.
Below is her complete statement:
PAHAYAG
April 22, 2024
“Mga kababayan, bilang tao, karapatan ni Unang Ginang Liza Marcos na makaramdam ng sama ng loob at galit.
“Subalit ang kanyang personal na damdamin ay walang kinalaman sa aking mandato bilang isang opisyal ng pamahalaan.
“Upang makausad tayo, iiwan na natin sa isang pribadong pag-uusap sa pagitan lamang namin ni Pangulong “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. ang mga susunod na hakbang.
“Mga kaigsuonan, nag-atubang ang atong nasud og dagkong mga problema nga kinahanglang solusyonan sa gobyerno.
“Dapat ay nakatutok tayo sa pagtugon sa mga suliraning hinaharap ng ating bansa.
‘Patuloy ang pagtaas ng presyo ng pagkain at iba pang mga bilihin at ito ay mas nagpapahirap pa sa dinaranas na gutom o kawalan ng sapat na pagkain ng mahihirap nating kababayan.
“Nagbabadya rin ang kakulangan ng supply ng tubig at kuryente, habang talamak na naman ang ipinagbabawal na droga.
“Samantala, hindi pa rin natatapos ang banta ng kriminalidad, terorismo at insurhensiya sa ating bansa.
“Kini ang mga butang nga angay natong hatagan og pagtagad.
“Unahin natin ang Pilipinas.
“Shukran.”
Sara Z. Duterte
Vice President of the Philippines
Secretary of the Department of Education
Apparently, with her statement, the Vice President has taken the high road as she appeared to avoid a word war with the First Lady.
It is for the best of the country, for sure, because a war of words would be unproductive.
Our hope is that this issue won’t take long to be resolved between the First Family and the Vice President for the good of the Filipino nation. (♡)