MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte said on Friday, October 18, that Sen. Imee Marcos asked her to run with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as his vice president in the 2022 national elections.
The reason behind Imee’s request was that the Marcoses would lose the Malacañang seat to former Vice President Leni Robredo without her, which Duterte said she was glad that the president’s sister was straightforward with her.
The vice president recalled that Imee contacted her after the filing deadline for certificates of candidacy in October 2021.
“Sabi ko, ‘Bakit mo ako nirerequest ngayon na tumakbong vice president?’ And I’m happy that she was honest enough to say, ‘Kasi matatalo kami ni Leni kung hindi mo dalhin ang Bisaya,’” Duterte told reporters at a press conference.
(I said, "Why are you asking me now to run for vice president?" And I’m happy that she was honest enough to say, "Because we will lose to Leni if you don’t bring in the Visayan vote.")
Duterte initially sought reelection as Davao City’s mayor for a third term, having already filed her COC in 2021.
She had been adamant about her decision not to run for vice president that same year, even suggesting to Imee to tap other candidates such as Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Sen. Bong Go or former Sen. Manny Pacquiao.
But Duterte said that Imee told her “Hindi kakayanin (It won’t work),” and that Pacquiao was firm with his decision to run for president in the 2022 elections because it was a “call from God.”
“It was very straightforward na it was all about winning, sinabi niya sa akin. So sinabi ko sa kanya … ‘Tawagan niyo si Bato dela Rosa. Ask him to slide down to VP, tumatakbo siyang president.’ And then ang answer niya was ‘Nah’,” Duterte said.
(It was very straightforward that it was all about winning, she told me. So I said to her, 'Call Bato dela Rosa. Ask him to slide down to VP, he’s running for president.' And then her answer was, 'Nah.')
When she suggested her own father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, Imee had told her that it was already “a closed book” since Go was running for president as well at that time.
Duterte said they could ask Go to step down from the presidential race to run as Bongbong’s vice president, but Imee reiterated that they would not win against Robredo that way, according to Duterte.
The vice president said that even Imee “would not deny” the statement she made at Friday's press conference.
Duterte added that she had even reassured Bongbong at a supposed birthday party of House Speaker Martin Romualdez that she had no plans on running as president after rumors spread that she would.
“Sinabihan ko siya (Bongbong) ‘Huwag ka maniwala sa kanila. ‘Wag ka maniwala sa mga taong nagsasabi sayo na tatakbo akong president. Hindi ako tatakbong president, sinabi ko na ‘yan,” she said to which the president told her that he knows.
After telling Imee that she would think about it, discuss it with her family, and assess whether the numbers showed her potential to win as vice president, she withdrew her mayoral bid on Nov. 9, 2021.
Through the Commission on Elections’ former substitution rules, she then ran for vice president under the president’s party, Lakas-CMD, after its original candidate withdrew.
Still, Duterte told reporters that she has no regrets about running for vice president, saying that God has a reason for winning the elections.
“Para kay BBM or para sa bayan, hindi ko alam ano rason ng Diyos. All the time hindi natin nakikita ang rason ng Diyos. Nacoconnect na lang natin siya 'pag may ibang pangyayari sa buhay natin,” she said.
(For BBM or for the country, I don’t know what God’s reason is. All the time, we don’t see God’s reasons. We only connect the dots when other events happen in our lives.)
Asked whether she believes the Marcoses had used her, Duterte said “Of course ginamit nila ako para manalo sila. (Of course, they used me to win the elections).”
Duterte and Bongbong presently have a strained relationship, especially after Congress heavily scrutinized the budget for the Office of the Vice President.
House lawmakers are also investigating the misuse of confidential funds in both the OVP and the Department of Education during her tenure as secretary.