MALACAÑANG on Tuesday denied claims made by lawyer and fugitive Harry Roque that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is attempting to reconcile with Vice President Sara Duterte.
The former Palace spokesman in a Facebook post claimed a “confidential source” relayed the information to them, something Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro branded as another piece of “fake news” fabricated by the Duterte camp.
“Another lie. What they should be thinking about now is service over politics,” Castro said in Filipino in a text message to reporters.
The official added that the vice president causes problems by being gullible about stories weaved by Roque. Duterte reportedly reacted by saying “there is no turning back” and that she never wants to smoke the peace pipe with her former ally.
“With this answer of the vice president that she does not want to negotiate, her true colors are clearly visible. She is not a true public servant. She is no longer helpful, rather she is destructive,” Castro said.
”The president is busy serving the people unlike others who are just campaigning. She is once again creating her own story to remain relevant and to be talked about,” she added.
Marcos and Duterte teamed up in the national elections in 2022 under the “UniTeam” banner but had a falling out in November 2024, when the vice president went on an online verbal assault against the Marcoses and then-House speaker Martin Romualdez and even threatened to have them put away should something bad happen to her.
The vice president, her brother congressman Paolo Duterte, and former Ilocos Sur governor Luis “Chavit” Singson are allegedly “financiers” of a group of active and retired military and police officials, said to be behind attempts to destabilize the government and kick Marcos out of Malacañang.
Earlier this month, Duterte said she would run for president in 2028.
Marcos, Castro noted, had no reaction to his former ally’s announcement except to wish her “good luck.”