The feud between the Duterte and Marcos families in the Philippines escalated this week with both sides trading accusations of embezzlement, sparking a budgetary battle and raising the prospect of impeachment proceedings against the vice-president.
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On Thursday, the House of Representatives – led by Speaker Martin Romualdez, cousin to President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr – announced a 65 per cent cut to Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s proposed 2025 budget for her office.
This followed accusations by Duterte-Carpio that Romualdez and Zaldy Co, the House appropriations committee chair, had diverted public funds meant for classroom construction and repairs.
Duterte-Carpio, the daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, had campaigned together with Marcos Jnr on a unified ticket to win the 2022 elections. However, the alliance between their powerful political families has turned in recent months into a bitter rivalry as they work to strengthen their coalitions ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
The vice-president did not attend a House budget hearing on Tuesday in which she was meant to defend her office’s budget requests, including her controversial use of confidential funds in 2022.