Metro Manila, Philippines – The president’s order to exclude the vice president from the National Security Council (NSC) is an “ill-advised presidential move,” a former presidential spokesperson and counsel with close ties to the Dutertes said.
In a statement, ex-chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said Vice President Sara Duterte’s removal from the security cluster is “another brazen measure to diminish her political star power”.
On Friday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. released Executive Order 81, which drops the vice president and all former living presidents as members of the NSC. These include former chief executives Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and Rodrigo Duterte.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the vice president is considered irrelevant to the responsibilities of membership in the NSC.
In November, Duterte questioned her supposed exclusion from previous NSC meetings even if Marcos has not convened the council since assuming office in 2022.
“The removal of FPGMA and FPERAP in the NSC is to deodorize the elimination of VP Sara as member — to make it appear that she is not being targeted,” said Panelo.
Meanwhile, France Castro, House deputy minority leader and ACT Teacher’s party-list representative, said the president’s move may just signal an escalating rift between the Marcos and Duterte families.
“Ang pagtanggal kina VP Sara Duterte at dating Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte sa National Security Council ay nagpapakita lang na simula pa lang ng taon ay simula na naman ang mas matinding bakbakan sa dalawang nangungungang political dynasties sa bansa,”
[Translation: The removal of VP Sara Duterte and former President Rodrigo Duterte from the National Security Council only shows that, right at the start of the year, a more intense battle between the two leading political dynasties in the country is about to begin]
The Office of the Vice President has yet to comment on Marcos’ order.
