Marcos says there’s no reason to fire VP over quarrel with First Lady

PHILIPPINE President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Tuesday said Vice-President (VP) Sara Duterte-Carpio would remain in his Cabinet despite his wife’s ill feelings against her.

“It will not affect our working relationship with the Vice-President and secretary of Education,” he told reporters in Occidental Mindoro on Tuesday.

“She also understands as a wife how the First Lady feels, when you have to sit there and listen to these attacks that are being made against your husband.”

First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos last week criticized the Vice-President in a video blog over her behavior during a Davao City rally in January where her father, ex-President Rodrigo R. Duterte, called his successor a drug addict.

Mr. Marcos said he would talk to Ms. Duterte-Carpio about the issue. “She should not take it to heart,” he said in Filipino. “She wasn’t the one who said things out of nowhere. It’s easy to iron out the issue.”’

Lawmakers have sought the resignation of the Education secretary, questioning her capacity to lead the institution and her silence on China’s incursions in the South China Sea.

Manila Rep. Joel R. Chua last week said Ms. Duterte-Carpio should show decency by resigning from the Cabinet.

“She cannot have the best of both worlds by being a fence sitter while her family and their allies challenge the authority and mandate of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. while having little to show for in terms of substantive results at the Department of Education, where she is Secretary,” he added.

Mr. Marcos said any Cabinet secretary would be replaced if they do not do their jobs.

“If they cannot do it, if they get sick, just say it and you will be replaced. If they are inept or corrupt, you will be removed. Inday is not like that,” he added, referring to Ms. Duterte-Carpio.

The President said he is lucky to have a wife who is very protective. “When she hears something bad is said against me, she gets very upset. We cannot blame here.”

He added that his wife does not come from a political family, and she still has to learn how to ignore hurtful words from other people. “We are used to insults.”

After holding a political rally in Davao City in January that was highly critical of the Marcos government, Mr. Duterte threatened to separate the southern island of Mindanao from the rest of the nation, an idea that has been sharply criticized by government agencies and lawmakers from Mindanao. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza