Philippines’ first lady Liza Marcos breaks 2-year silence on ties with vice-president Sara Duterte: ‘I felt hurt’

A video of Philippine first lady Marie Louise “Liza” Araneta Marcos saying her relationship with Vice-President Sara Duterte has soured went viral on Thursday, likely pushing tensions between the president and his vice-president to a head, analysts said.

In a video of an interview with local broadcast journalist Anthony Taberna, the first lady said she was “always kind to [the vice-president]” but the vice-president was “now a bad shot with me”.

The first lady said the vice-president had hurt her emotionally, saying “I felt hurt”.

“[The vice-president] went to a rally where [Marcos Jnr] was mocked as ‘bangag’ (Tagalog for a drug-addled person),” she said, referring to the March 12 rally organised by supporters of the former president, where the vice-president “laughed”.

The 28-second video clip posted by Taberna is part of an extended interview in which the first lady broke two years of silence on her relationship with the vice-president since her husband took office.

The entire interview has yet to be released but supporters of the president expect more pushback by the first lady against her political enemies.

It comes after the president on Monday said that while his relationship with his vice-president was “complicated” and “hasn’t really changed”.

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The first lady’s latest comments may have brought tensions between the two families, and between the president and the vice-president, to a head, former congressman Barry Gutierrez said.

Because of the “tone” of the first lady’s remarks, the removal of the vice-president from the cabinet “may not be far off”, he said.

The vice-president and Marcos Jnr has yet to respond to the first lady’s