Vice President Sara Duterte reacted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s planned U.S. visit this month amid controversy over First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos’ alleged involvement in the death of Rustan’s executive Paolo Tantoco in Los Angeles.
A report by the LA County coroner revealed that Tantoco, 44, died from “cocaine effects” in his hotel room on March 8, 2025.
Malacañang recently announced that the President will visit the United States from July 20 to 22, 2025, days after the said LA County report was posted on Los Angeles Medical Examiner’s website.
“Hopeless na iyan. Wala na iyan,” Duterte said in an interview in The Hague, Netherlands on Tuesday.
In May this year, the vice president first claimed that the First Lady was involved in the death of a Filipino during her recent trip to the United States.
This, as Duterte also claimed that the March 11 arrest and turnover of former President Rodrigo Duterte to the International Criminal Court (ICC) was an attempt to cover up the First Lady’s controversy in the U.S.
The vice president told the media that she had already moved on with the issue.
“Nagmove on na ako,” she said.
Meanwhile, the vice president is expecting the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s global tariff launched on the Philippine trade and is hopeful that PBBM’s economic team will be ready for it.
Trump announced tariff notices via his Truth Social platform for seven small trading partners that sent only 15 billion dollars in goods to the US last year: a 20% tariff on products from the Philippines, 30% on items from Sri Lanka, Algeria, Iraq, and Libya, and 25% on goods from Brunei and Moldova starting August 1.
“Maapektuhan yung trade natin. Hindi natin alam kung gaano kalaki. Hindi naman natin nakikita yung study sa ngayon. Pero yung trade, yes. Sana maganda yung preparation ng economic team ng ating administration to caution the impact,” the vice president said.
Trump initially raised the copper tariff topic at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, causing companies to rush to import as much copper as they could from Chile and other key suppliers.
