DAPAT umanong kumalas na si Vice President Sara Duterte sa Gabinete kung patuloy nitong kokontrahin ang mga polisiya ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

Ito ang sinabi ni dating Sen. Leila De Lima bilang tugon sa ginawang pagtutol ni Duterte sa desisyon ni Pangulong Marcos na pag-aralan ang pagbabalik ng Pilipinas sa International Criminal Court (ICC) at ang muling pagbubukas ng usapang pangkapayapaan sa pagitan ng Pilipinas at National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

“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,” ani De Lima na nakulong noong administrasyong Duterte.

“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,” dagdag pa nito.

Sinabi ni De Lima na kung ipagpapatuloy ni Duterte ang pagtutol ay makabubuti kung magbibitiw na ito bilang kalihim ng Department of Education (DepEd).

“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,” wika pa ni De Lima.

“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,” pagpapatuloy nito.

“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,” dagdag pa ni De Lima.