On the morning Vice President Sara Duterte submitted her irrevocable resignation as Education Secretary to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., she noticed something that unsettled her deeply.
It was just past 10:30 AM, she recalled, when the President leaned in for a parting beso. “Yun yung pag-alis ko, nagbeso-beso siya sa akin. This was 10:25 or 10:30 in the morning… Amoy alak siya,” Duterte said in an interview in The Hague on Monday. “At kung ako ang pahulain, kung ano yung alak na yun, whiskey. Pero, hindi ko naman siya nakita nag-inom ng whiskey. Nakikita ko siya lagi umiinom ng champagne. Pero amoy alak siya at 10:30 in the morning.”
That moment, she said, cemented her decision to leave. “So, hindi ako ang failure. Siguro, ang failure is yung 10:30 pa lang ng umaga, amoy alak ka na.”
Her remarks came in response to Malacañang’s branding of her tenure as a “total failure” at the Department of Education. Speaking from The Hague, Netherlands, Duterte pushed back.
“Hindi ko maintindihan saan nanggagaling yung total failure ako as a Department of Education Secretary. Kasi iba yung actions ni BBM noong ako ay nag-tender ng resignation,” she said.
She recalled that on June 19, 2024—a Wednesday—she finally handed over the resignation letter she had been holding onto for months. “Matagal ko na pinag-isipan yung pagre-resign… Posibleng mag-file ng impeachment case sa akin dahil September 2023 pa lang pinag-uusapan na yun. So matagal ko na hawak-hawak yung resignation letter na yun. Matagal ako pabalik-balik sa Malacañang.”
That day, a meeting was held at the Palace regarding the opening of classes—an issue she felt shouldn’t have reached the President’s desk. After the meeting, she requested a private moment with Marcos.
“Meron silang reception area, tapos papasok ka sa isang room… doon niya ako dinala. Meron pa isang conference table. So, tinanong pa nga niya ako eh, ‘hindi ka pa nakapasok dito?’ Sabi ko hindi. First time ko ito nakapasok dito.”
Marcos reminisced about the room’s history, saying it was once a gathering place during his father’s time. Duterte nodded politely, then handed him the letter.
“Sinabi ko na sa kanya, may dala ako na letter, ibibigay ko sa’yo. Tapos, binigay ko sa kanya. And then, nung binasa na niya, ang sabi niya, ‘Why? Why?’ Tanong siya sa akin, bakit? Bakit?”
She declined to explain further. “Sinabi ko sa kanya, ayaw ko na pag-usapan kung bakit ako mag-resign… Hindi mo ba nakikita kung ano yung ginagawa ninyo sa akin?”
Duterte emphasized that under her leadership, the Department of Education was delivering results. Marcos, she said, tried to persuade her to stay.
“And then, sabi niya, he tried to ask me to stay. Tapos sabi ko, ayoko na.”
He even offered her another position, which she declined. Later, he asked if she could help with the 2025 midterm elections.
“‘Pwede ka bang tumulong sa midterm elections para sa mga senators?’ Sabi ko, pag-iisipan ko pero wala pa akong plano para sa 2025 midterm elections ng senators.”
For Duterte, these gestures contradicted the Palace’s narrative.
“So, hindi yun actions ng taong tumitingin as failure ako. Action yun ng taong tumitingin na kailangan niya yung trabaho ko… At ang clincher dito hindi iyon ‘yun eh. Hindi yung gusto niya akong manatili at magtrabaho para sa kanya sa administrasyon.”
