
NOT IN SYNCH
SENATOR Leila De Lima again reiterated her call for Vice President Sara to resign as Education Secretary and as a member of the Cabinet if she continues to publicly oppose President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.’s policies.
De Lima likened Duterte’s public disagreements with President Marcos Jr.’s policies to a member of a choir who is out of tune with the rest.
“As a matter of principle, no Cabinet minister in the world can do that without being challenged by the Cabinet to stop singing a divergent tune. Kung sintunado ka, paalisin ka sa choir,” said De Lima.
Duterte has issued public statements opposing President Marcos’ statement about rejoining the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is investigating the vice president’s father for his bloody drug war.
She also criticized President Marcos’ move to restart the peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, saying this is like a “deal with the devil.”
“Let me further elucidate – This is nothing new. In all governments in the world, a Cabinet minister is only expected to resign as such once s/he voices out different policies than the Cabinet publicly,” De Lima said.
“All Cabinet secretaries are alter egos of the President. An alter ego cannot have a different mind than the President. Kaya nga alter ego. Otherwise, separate ego na ‘yun kung palagi ka na lang nag-o-oppose sa principal mo,” she added.
De Lima theorized that Duterte might be thinking that opposing the president is her role as vice president, which is so far from the truth.
“Maybe she is voicing contrary policy statements because she thinks it’s her role as VP. As VP she can do that. But she must not forget that she is still a Cabinet secretary bound to alter ego principle in the executive branch,” De Lima stated.
“If she wants to keep voicing contrary policy positions to the Cabinet, she should be shorn of her alter ego role first. She cannot eat her cake and keep it too. The problem with VP is her mindset that she is a president-in-waiting or worse, a co-president entitled to oppose the President in his own Cabinet. She cannot do that,” she continued.
“No self-respecting Cabinet in the world will tolerate a rogue minister who publicly challenges executive/Cabinet policy. That is a given. My observation is not personal to Sara. It is just the way how Cabinets all over the world work. You sing out of tune, you either get out or are kicked out.”