Let Vice President Sara Duterte speak for herself if she plans to lead the opposition, House Speaker Martin Romualdez said on Monday.
Romualdez gave this comment when asked to respond to the statements of former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque that the Vice President can now be considered as the new face of the opposition.
“Well, I guess that’s Mr. Harry Roque’s statements, but then I guess we’ll just have to hear it from the VP, if and when the time comes for her to make statements or to make any policy or statements on policies of the national government,” the House leader told reporters.
Duterte formally submitted last week to President Marcos her letter of resignation as Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) and Vice Chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
Romualdez said Roque’s words should not be taken as official statement of the Vice President. The Leyte representative added he maintained good working relationship with Duterte—him being her campaign manager when she ran and won as vice president in the 2022 elections.
“Due to our respective roles in the executive, we in the legislative, our interactions are limited, it was only about the previous budget hearings and obviously, we miss the closer interactions that we had during the campaign,” Romualdez said of the Vice President.
The Speaker, nonetheless, said they wish Duterte “nothing but the best” despite the political and personal issues she might be dealing with. “We wish her the best of luck in all endeavors and in her service to the Filipino people,” he noted.