Sara Duterte quits Marcos cabinet in sign their rift is worsening

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said yesterday she has resigned from the cabinet of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, with tense relations between the two families turning into a public rift in recent months.

She gave no clear reason but she leaves her post as education minister ahead of mid-term and local elections scheduled for next year.

Her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, and Marcos have had a very public falling out as both families attempt to shore up their rival support bases and secure key positions ahead of the mid-term elections and presidential polls in 2028.

Marcos and Sara Duterte had teamed up to win by a landslide in the May 2022 presidential and vice presidential election.

Sara Duterte "tendered her resignation as member of the cabinet" and will no longer serve as education secretary, presidential spokeswoman Cheloy Garafil said, adding she would continue as vice president.

She also resigned as the vice chairwoman of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

As vice president, the 46-year-old would take over in case Marcos, 66, dies or becomes unable to perform his duties at any time during their six-year terms.

Sara Duterte said she met with the president to inform him about her resignation effective yesterday. "Every story, no matter how beautiful, has to end," she said.

Relations between the two families have plummeted in the past two years.

In a rally of supporters in his home city Davao on January 28, Rodrigo Duterte accused Marcos of being a "drug addict."

Marcos hit back the next day, claiming Duterte's long-term use of the powerful opioid fentanyl had taken a toll on his health.

Neither man provided evidence of the other's alleged drug use.

Duterte has also urged the military and police to unseat Marcos if he pursued his proposal to amend the constitution, and threatened to get Mindanao to secede.