Dwayne Johnson Galamgam 

From dominating the national elections in 2022 to exchanging threats in 2024, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte’s tandem breaks apart, fracturing the two into word wars and political feud.


The two had differences, with Marcos mentioning in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22 of a “bloodless” drug war, different to Sara’s father – former president Rodrigo Duterte’s approach that led to an estimated death toll of 12,000 to 30,000 victims.

The former president called Marcos a drug addict during a prayer rally in Davao City on January 28 with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) rejecting the claim the other day.

Duterte showed no aggression against Marcos in the early months of the year, but got into a “word war” with the First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos.

As Duterte reiterated their good relationship with Marcos in a February 12 interview in Malaysia, she had no comment regarding her ties with the first lady.

Liza Marcos said in an interview on April 18 that she was hurt when Duterte allowed her father to call the president an addict, citing that the former vice president Leni Robredo never did the act when she was in power.

Marcos even defended Sara on April 12 for not speaking out against Chinese aggression on Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea, explaining  that the vice president will talk to him if she has disagreements with the administration’s policies.

He also denied replacing Duterte as Education chief, stating in an interview in Occidental Mindoro on April 23 that he sees no reason behind removing her in the cabinet.

‘Uniteam no more’

Things started to change between the two on June 19, with Duterte resigning from her post as Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary “out of concerns of teachers and students.”

The vice president also made a remark against the president on Oct. 18, saying in a press conference that she “daydreamed of cutting Marcos’ head” during a graduation event for not letting the president give his watch to one of the graduates as a graduation gift.

She added in the press conference that this was the time she realized that they already had a “toxic” relationship between them.

The vice president also warned Senator Imee Marcos of digging up her father – former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s body and throwing it into the West Philippine Sea.

Duterte faced numerous House investigations under its Quad Committee for her confidential fund spending.

In seven hearings, the committee uncovered alleged irregularities in the handling of P500 million in confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP), spent between late 2022 and the third quarter of 2023, and P112.5 million allocated to the DepEd in 2023 wherein it was revealed that the OVP spent P16 million to rent 34 safe houses for just 11 days in late 2022, with one safe house costing nearly P91,000 per day.

Adding to the fiasco was her unauthorized stay at the House during the detention period of her Chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, who was rushed to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center.

She was detained until November 30.

During her stay, Duterte released an online press conference on Nov. 23 wherein she mentioned hiring an assassin to kill the president, first lady, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez in an instance that she got killed.

The presidential security was heightened after the remark, with Marcos releasing a statement on Nov. 25 vowing to fight back against the threats.

The vice president released a press briefing on Nov. 23 — days after her controversial remark, stating that they have reached a “point of no return” and added that Romualdez allegedly eyed the presidency and they are allegedly plotting to remove her from her position.

Duterte currently faces three impeachment cases, a disbarment case, and a significantly slashed OVP budget which is P733 million – a downgrade from the proposed P2.035 billion for 2025.