DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 02 September) – Vice President Sara Duterte personally apologized Sunday before thousands of members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) for asking their support for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the 2022 national elections.
And in yet another indication that she’s totally burning bridges with him, Duterte, during the KOJC’s 39th anniversary celebrations here on September 1, said that she was “mistaken in believing” that she and Marcos were “on the same platform of unity and continuity.”
Duterte first apologized to KOJC members for asking their support to vote Marcos in a statement she issued last August 26, where she condemned the “excessive use” of police force to arrest fugitive Pastor Apollo Quiboloy inside the KOJC compound. Some 2,000 police personnel were deployed to arrest Quiboloy for the second time inside the group’s 30-hectare property.
Marcos and Duterte were running mates in the May 2022 national elections under the so-called “UniTeam Alliance.”
“Nagkamali ako sa paghingi ng tulong at suporta nyo para kay Pangulong Bongbong Marcos (I was wrong in asking for your help and support for President Bongbong Marcos). I was on a mistaken belief that we were tighter on the platform of unity and continuity,” she told the KOJC members during their anniversary celebrations.
Duterte vowed that she would “soon provide a detailed explanation of her decision” to run for vice president rather than president, to succeed her father, former President Rodrigo R. Duterte.
“Sala man gud ni tanan ni Inday Sara kung nidagan pani sya presidente dili ta magkalisod-lisod ani (This is all Inday Sara’s fault. If she had ran for president, we wouldn’t be facing these difficulties),” Duterte said, referring to herself and to the police operations at the KOJC compound to arrest Quiboloy.
Duterte said that “she found it difficult to love her enemies,” an advice the KOJC preacher instills on his followers.
“I know dili gyud ko makasulti when your preacher says to love your enemy. Wala pako sa punto sa mga miyembro, I am not in that level of spiritual enlightenment na I can love my enemies (I know I really can’t say much when your preacher says to love your enemy. I am not yet at that level of spiritual enlightenment where I can love my enemies),” she said.
Last June 10, Duterte resigned as secretary of the Department of Education and vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.
Duterte declined to state her reason for her resignation, but her decision came after the growing rift between the Duterte and Marcos families.
The vice president assured the KOJC members of her support as the police operations to arrest Quiboloy at the KOJC compound continue.
“God will take care of you, all the more because you can love your enemies, you can forgive, so you will gain victory. God will be there, will always be behind you, around you, above you, underneath you, to cradle you to shelter you because you know, his power is over all of us,” she said.
The police operation to arrest Quiboloy entered its 10th day on Monday, September 2. (Antonio Colina IV / MindaNews)
