Feud between Philippines’ Duterte and Marcos camps worsens over embezzlement allegations

The budget for Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s office has been slashed as she alleges an impeachment ‘plot’ against her

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Cutouts of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr and VP Sara Duterte-Carpio displayed at a protest along a road leading to the Philippine Congress in Quezon City. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 12:00pm, 13 Sep 2024

The feud between the Duterte and Marcos families in the Philippines escalated this week with both sides trading accusations of embezzlement, sparking a budgetary battle and raising the prospect of impeachment proceedings against the vice-president.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives – led by Speaker Martin Romualdez, cousin to President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr – announced a 65 per cent cut to Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s proposed 2025 budget for her office.

This followed accusations by Duterte-Carpio that Romualdez and Zaldy Co, the House appropriations committee chair, had diverted public funds meant for classroom construction and repairs.

Duterte-Carpio, the daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, had campaigned together with Marcos Jnr on a unified ticket to win the 2022 elections. However, the alliance between their powerful political families has turned in recent months into a bitter rivalry as they work to strengthen their coalitions ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

The vice-president did not attend a House budget hearing on Tuesday in which she was meant to defend her office’s budget requests, including her controversial use of confidential funds in 2022.

Instead, Duterte supporter Jheane Valdez posted on the same day on her Facebook page a 27-minute video of Duterte-Carpio where she began by saying: “I am not a Bratinella or spoiled brat. The Philippine national budget is controlled only by two people.”

House Speaker Martin Romualdez at the House of Representatives in Quezon City. Photo: AP