In her latest video statement, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte brushed off political intrigues and assured both her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, and President Marcos that she is “not a problem to be solved” in response to their concerns over her wellbeing.
“It is clear that both men are blessed with the heart to respect the will of a woman. Both leaders are also gifted with the wisdom to know that I am not a problem and I do not need to be solved, rather, this is the time to focus on the work that needs to be done for the country,” Duterte said on Tuesday.
The vice president released her most recent public address amid several media reports and lawmakers, questioning her stance in the Marcos administration. Duterte, however, stated that politics is not something that she ever discusses with her father and his successor.
Duterte then went on to enumerate what she described as the real problems that need to be solved in our country, which are the state of education, inflation, terrorism, criminality, uncertain national security and peace.
“As a Mindanaoan, I am a witness to how violence spawned poverty, lack of livelihood, internal displacement, and inequitable access to education opportunities for our children and the youth, which ultimately made the violence of radicalism more appealing to them,” she said.
The vice president noted that the recent death of four soldiers, who were killed in an ambush in Maguindanao del Sur “points us to the painful truth that terrorism remains a fundamental problem that requires our collective action as a nation.”
Duterte encouraged everyone to fight terrorism and support the education of our youth. She added that support must also be extended to the members of our armed forces by providing them with the right information that would lead them towards the enemies.
“There are many Filipino soldiers who risked their lives for the sake of peace in our country. Let us not waste their heroism by showing that we are one with them in this fight against terrorism,” she said in a mix of Tagalog and her native Cebuano towards the end of her statement.