President Ferdinand Marcos is leaving the door open to a possible reconciliation with estranged Vice President Sara Duterte after confirming that he sent a private message to lawmakers in the House of Representatives, urging them not to file an impeachment case against her.
In a chance interview with reporters on Friday, Mr. Marcos said pursuing an impeachment proceeding is the least of his priorities at the moment, noting there are other more important concerns that warrant the attention of legislators.
“What will happen if somebody files an impeachment? It will tie down the House, it will tie down the Senate. It will just take up all our time and for what? For nothing, for nothing. None of this will help improve a single Filipino life,” he said in an ABS-CBN News report.
The Commander-in-Chief described the ongoing tension between him and his running mate as a “storm in a teacup,” a British idiomatic expression for great outrage or excitement about a trivial matter.
Duterte earlier stated that if the impeachment case against her pushes through, it would mean she and the President already reached a “point of no return.” President Marcos, however, held a different view. “Never say never,” he said, indicating hopes for a possible reconciliation.
The Marcos-Duterte alliance campaigned on a platform of unity during the 2022 presidential elections. Political relations between the two families, however, soured over the past few years as both camps traded allegations of drug addiction and corruption.
