VP Sara ready to replace Marcos if he resigns, says spokesperson

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte is ready to replace President Marcos in case the latter resigns, according to her spokesman. Lawyer Paolo Panelo, the spokesman, defended the Vice President amid criticisms that her call for Marcos to resign was self-serving as she would benefit from it. "She was elected as the Vice President so she was actually the one the people voted for to replace the President if he would resign, so I don’t think this is self-serving or, as some might say, a conflict of interest because for her and for many Filipinos, it’s not really good for the country for the President to remain in office," Panelo said. During an interview in Quezon City, Duterte branded Marcos as the “problem of the nation,” accusing his administration of corruption, abuse and political harassment amid the cases filed against her and members of her family. Duterte’s counsel Michael Poa said Duterte in effect has declared her candidacy for the 2028 presidential elections. "It means, she believed in her ability to change the system or the government’s practices. Because we saw here under President Marcos’ leadership massive corruption, including the flood control scam, violations of the law that almost every month we have a new creative way to interpret the law that we didn’t study in law school," Panelo added. Poa noted that as early as 2023, Duterte has issued statements against former House speaker Martin Romualdez and former representative Zaldy Co. "It all started, if you remember, Vice President Sara was the first to call out Martin Romualdez and Zaldy Co for controlling the budget. President Marcos ignored her then but you see now they are the ones being flagged as big fish that the government is pursuing for corruption," Panelo added. According to Panelo, Duterte resigned as secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) in 2024 “because she didn’t want to be part of that scheme.” Duterte’s camp has confirmed that Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 98 denied the motion it filed seeking the inhibition of the presiding judge. Paul Lawrence Lim said QC RTC Branch 98 Judge Maria Angelica de Ramos junked the motion for inhibition filed by Duterte. De Ramos is handling the grave threats case filed by the Department of Justice (DOJ) against the Vice President and issued a warrant of arrest against her. "The Vice President will exercise all available remedies. We also received the court’s order requiring both parties to strictly comply with the sub judice rule and to refrain from publicly discussing the merits of the case," Lim added. Former Commission on Elections commissioner Rowena Guanzon said it was Marcos who appointed De Ramos to her post in March 2025. Duterte’s arraignment on Friday was deferred after her lawyers filed a motion challenging the proceedings. The defense also filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with a temporary restraining order before the Supreme Court questioning a DOJ resolution, alongside its filing before the trial court. The defense team defended its decision not to file a motion to quash to block the testimony of retired Sandiganbayan presiding justice Amparo Cabotaje-Tang after the impeachment court spokesman said it failed to avail of such remedy. Poa said the Duterte camp agreed with impeachment court spokesman Reginald Tongol that a motion to quash could have been a remedy, but maintained that it did not avail of such as it would have been premature, considering that the legal team has yet to hear the offer of testimony. "While the purpose was indicated in the subpoena, the extent of her testimony, including whether the witness will testify on factual matters, was unknown to the defense," Poa said. The prosecution presented Cabotaje-Tang as witness on Monday as it began tackling the article on the alleged unexplained wealth of the Vice President. Meanwhile, despite raising doubts on her security detail, the Armed Forces of the Philippines assured the Vice President of continued protection. — Michael Punongbayan, Josiah Antonio, Alexis Romero