The Vice President of the Philippines, Sara Duterte, has resigned from President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s cabinet on Jun. 19, rupturing an up-till-now seemingly highly successful political alliance.

School’s out

It was announced on Jun. 19 that Duterte would quit Marcos Jr.’s cabinet, resigning as education secretary and the vice chair of an anti-communist task force, effective July 19.

She was quoted as saying her resignation was “not born out of weakness”, but did not provide further explanation.

Reuters reported that the rupturing of the Marcos - Duterte political alliance had been expected for some time, but some experts were surprised at the speed at which it came apart.

Sara Duterte, who is the daughter of the previous president Rodrigo Duterte, has served as the Philippines vice president since 2022.

She came to power as the running mate of Marcos Jr. and subsequently agreed to serve in his cabinet, according to Bloomberg

Political allies, once

Under the Philippine's political system, the president and vice president are elected in separate first past the post elections.

That means that the vice president is not necessarily aligned with the president, which occurred under Rodrigo Duterte's presidency.

Rodrigo Duterte had attained about 39 per cent of the vote share for his presidential term, but had a political rival as his vice president in the form of Leni Robredo.

But in 2022, Marcos Jr. managed to achieve a landslide election victory, attaining 58.8 per cent vote share.

Former alliance

Part of the reason why he was able to win so conclusively was due to a political alliance between the Marcos and Duterte families.

Marcos Jr is the son of former Philippines strongman Ferdinand Marcos, who was eventually ousted after being accused of corruption and human rights abuses during his tenure in power.

But the Marcos family has remained influential in Philippines politics, despite having many detractors.

Similarly, the Duterte family is popular in the Davao region, where both Rodrigo and Sara have been elected as provincial governors

Philippines presidents are limited to a single term, and it was generally thought that Duterte would succeed Marcos in time.

Falling out

However, since the pair have taken office, relations between the two and their families have reportedly degraded.

In January 2024 the Guardian reported that Marcos Jr. And Rodrigo Duterte had traded accusations of being drug addicts, with Marcos Jr. suggesting that Rodrigo Duterte was addicted to fentanyl.

Marcos Jr. accusations came after Rodrigo Duterte had suggested that Marcos Jr. and his allies want to remove the presidency’s one-term limit.

In April 2024 it was also reported by Filipino newspaper, The Inquirer, that Marcos Jr's wife Liza Marcos-Araneta and Sara Duterte were feuding, with suggestions made that Marcos Jr should fire Sara Duterte or that she should resign.

Ultimately, Marcos Jr. said at the time that he would not fire her, but it seems it was not enough to salvage the alliance.

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Top image via Bongbong Marcos/Facebook & Inday Sara Duterte/Facebook