Geraldine Roman: Dutertes to blame for Uniteam’s collapse

Representative Geraldine Roman | FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

MANILA, Philippines — During the 2022 presidential race, Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman was one of the more ardent supporters of the Uniteam—the campaign tandem of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte—endorsing them when they visited her hometown.

Now, with the alliance completely collapsed following the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, Roman believes the Dutertes are to blame for the breakup of the Uniteam— a political “love team” she once fiercely defended.

“When VP Sara took office, I saw that her attitude towards President Marcos had been very antagonistic.  I will be honest, I fought for this love team, the Uniteam.  I was hoping that through unity, we can push for progress in our country, because it’s tiring to have different administrations being antagonistic against their predecessors,” Roman said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

“There was an effort from President Marcos to incorporate and to involve VP Sara. She was given so many prerogatives even beyond her position as Vice President in recognition of her position, out of respect for her position. But what did she give in exchange?  Senators aligned with the Vice President called for an investigation into claims that the President was using drugs.  Where have you seen such disrespect?” she asked.

LIVE UPDATES: Rodrigo Duterte at The Hague

Despite accusations from former President Duterte that Marcos was using drugs—a claim repeatedly disputed by both Malacañang and Marcos himself during the 2022 campaign—the Chief Executive remained silent and continued to treat Vice President Duterte fairly.

“But the President is kind, he remained silent, maybe hoping that VP Sara would reach out to him.  Because that’s how a relationship works, you hope for good.  But the next thing I know, we heard her making declarations that she wants to cut off the head of the President because he did not give a watch to a graduating cadet,” Roman said.

“Why, is giving watches the job of the president?  What if it was a gift from his wife, wouldn’t he be scolded, right?  That’s a shallow reason.  Then it came to a point that even the lives of the President, his wife, and even Speaker Martin (Romualdez) were threatened.  I mean, you are demanding now, but you were not willing to give what you are demanding,” she added.

READ: VP Duterte says she daydreamed ‘cutting off’ Marcos’ head 

On Tuesday morning, after arriving from Hong Kong, former President Duterte was stopped from leaving the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3 as the Philippine National Police assisted the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) in enforcing an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest order.

The arrest order for Duterte was in relation to the crimes against humanity charges filed before the ICC, for the ex-leader’s role in the drug war.

Duterte, his relatives, lawyers, and allies initially questioned the arrest, but the former president eventually boarded a chartered plane from Villamor Air Base, which left Manila for the Hague in the Netherlands a few minutes after 11:00 p.m. Tuesday.

READ: Plane carrying Rodrigo Duterte leaves PH for The Hague 

Then over the weekend, talks about the ICC possibly releasing an arrest order against Duterte mounted.  During this time, the former president, his relatives and key allies, flew to Hong Kong to meet overseas Filipino workers.

In Hong Kong, the older Duterte addressed talks about the arrest order, saying that his actions during the war on illegal drugs were for the Philippines’ benefit.

READ: Duterte on possible ICC arrest warrant: I did everything for Filipinos 

However, several official and independent investigations of the drug war have shown that there were many instances where innocent individuals were dragged into the anti-drug operations.  In August 2017, 17-year-old Kian delos Santos was summarily executed in Caloocan City even if he was not the original target of the operation.

The three police officers involved in the killing of delos Santos were convicted of murder.

Marcos, in an address at Malacañang after the plane carrying Duterte left Manila for the Netherlands, clarified that there was nothing political about the former president’s arrest, as the Philippine government has commitments with the Interpol.

Interpol was the agency responsible for bringing the arrest order from the ICC.