President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte. (INQUIRER FILES)
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday that he had told Congress not to file an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Marcos made the pronouncement after being asked to confirm a text message he supposedly sent to House leaders, which surfaced on Thursday.
鈥淲ell, it was actually a private communication, but it got leaked. Yes. Because that鈥檚 really my opinion,鈥� Marcos said in a mix of English and Filipino.
鈥淭his is not important. This does not make a difference to even one single Filipino life. So why waste time on it?鈥� he asked.
Marcos further pointed out that an impeachment complaint would only 鈥渢ie down鈥� both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
鈥淚t will just take up all our time and for what? For nothing. For nothing. None of this will help improve a single Filipino life,鈥� said Marcos.
Marcos even described the ongoing political strife between his administration and the Dutertes: 鈥淎s far as I鈥檓 concerned, it鈥檚 a storm in a teacup.鈥�
Marcos and Duterte, who were running mates in the 2022 elections under the 鈥楿niTeam鈥� brand, are in the middle of worsening political clashes over the past months.
It first escalated after the vice president vacated her seat as education secretary in Marcos鈥� cabinet.
The feud intensified, with Duterte recently revealing that she instructed someone to kill Marcos, his wife First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and cousin House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she gets killed.
READ: Sara Duterte鈥檚 kill remark vs Marcos is 鈥榓ctive threat鈥� 鈥� Palace
Marcos, for his part, clapped back, stating that he would fight back the apparent threat, tagging her pronouncements 鈥渁larming.鈥�
Duterte鈥檚 kill plot also shook some agencies and officials to take action, with the Department of Justice, through the National Bureau of Investigation, investigating her for alleged grave threats and possible violation of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020.
She is also facing disbarment complaints before the Supreme Court.
The vice president, for her part, repeatedly brushed off these complaints, stating that her kill plot remarks were 鈥渢aken out of logical context鈥� and that she is only being targeted by critics.