VP Sara Duterte’s ‘thanks’ to Marcos was sarcasm

Metro Manila, Philippines - Vice President Sara Duterte clarified that her statement thanking President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for supposedly mending ties between her and her father was not a show of gratitude but a sarcastic remark.

This comes after Marcos replied to Duterte’s supposed gratitude for her renewed relationship with former President Rodrigo Duterte with a short answer: “Glad I could help.”

In response to this, Duterte said the incumbent president may not have detected the sarcasm implied in her message.

“Hindi niya siguro naiintindihan na ang duty and obligation niya ay para sa bayan, hindi para ayusin ang mga personal na mga problema ng mga pamilya. The sarcasm was lost on him,” Duterte said in an interview at The Hague.

[Translation: Maybe he did not understand that his duty and obligation is for the people, not to fix the personal problems of families. The sarcasm was lost on him.]

Early last month, the Marcos administration cooperated with the International Criminal Police Organization for Duterte’s arrest and detention on charges of crimes against humanity for murder linked to his bloody war on drugs.

The vice president has been staying at The Hague to accompany her father who is at a detention facility of the International Criminal Court.

“This is ironic, but I have to thank Bongbong Marcos because there was forgiveness between me and PRRD (former President Rodrigo Duterte) for all that has happened in our lives," she previously said.