VP Sara asks brother to seek House speakership

MANILA, Philippines — Less than a week after the elections, Vice President Sara Duterte said she has asked her brother, Rep. Paolo Duterte (Davao City, 1st District), to seek either the House speakership or minority leadership at the House of Representatives. 

However, Sara said her brother has not responded to either suggestion.

"I told Congressman Pulong, I said to him, maybe you want to run for speaker? He didn't answer ... Maybe he's also thinking about his chances being far-fetched," the vice president said in mixed English and Filipino at an ambush interview on May 17.

Sara said she proposed an alternate move for her brother: "If you don't win speaker, then take the minority leadership. But he hasn't given an answer yet. So I guess he's still thinking about it."

The vice president said she has no other preferred candidates for House speaker or Senate president and that no one has approached her seeking endorsement for either position.

She added that Paolo's only comment was to advise her not to get into conflicts since she had just attended church mass.

Sara's remarks about the House speakership come amid speculation of a possible House leadership shakeup in the 20th Congress. This has been denied by allies of House Speaker Martin Romualdez, who said he still has the numbers to retain a supermajority in the lower chamber. 

House Deputy Speaker Rep. Jay-Jay Suarez (Quezon, 2nd District) said on Friday, May 17, that 240 House members have already signed a manifesto of support for Romualdez. "And that number keeps climbing," he added.  

The rift between Duterte and the Marcos-Romualdez clan intensified in 2023 after Romualdez led the effort to slash her office's confidential funds.