Duterte to step down as DepEd chief

Metro Manila, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, June 19, said she has resigned as education secretary effective a month later.

In a media briefing, Duterte said the 30 days will allow the transition for the new education chief.

The vice president did not give specific reasons for quitting the Cabinet.

"Ang aking pagbibitiw ay hindi lulan ng kahinaan, kung hindi dala ng tunay na malasakit sa ’ting mga guro,” she said in a message.

[Translation: My resignation was not driven by weakness, rather it was out of sympathy for our teachers.]

Ahead of her announcement, the Presidential Communications Office also confirmed Duterte’s resignation as vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

Malacanang has yet to issue a comment on these developments.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Duterte won by a landslide in the 2022 general elections under the Uniteam ticket.

The two have shown differing positions, however, on a number of issues including the investigation by the International Criminal Court on the bloody drug war during the Duterte administration, the sexual and trafficking abuse cases of religious leader Apollo Quiboloy, a close friend of the Dutertes, and the sudden shift in the academic calendar for basic education, among others.

There have been differences as well between the vice president and First Lady Liza Marcos Araneta.

The Marcos-Duterte political ties span generations.