Vice President Sara Duterte “can be the representation of a genuine opposition” who will perform checks and balances on the Marcos Jr. administration, following her resignation as Education Secretary from the President’s Cabinet, according to Davao del Norte 1st District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez.

In a statement on Friday, Alvarez who served as House Speaker under the Duterte administration, said he will support the Vice President should she decide to take on that role.

Sara Duterte resigns from Marcos Cabinet

"She now has more options insofar as how she can move in pursuit of serving the people, without the shackles imposed upon her by those who made it appear that they are willing to work with her but, at the same time, setting up traps along the way to make sure that she fails," the lawmaker said.

"Should she choose to decide, she can also be the representation of a genuine opposition that will serve as the check and balance against the shortcomings, and overextensions, of the Marcos administration,” Alvarez added.

PHOTO: VP Sara announces resignation from Marcos cabinet

He also expressed support for the Vice President’s decision to leave the Marcos Jr. Cabinet.

"I extend my full support and unwavering respect for VP Sara Duterte. She demonstrated extraordinary will and dedication as a Member of Cabinet of the administration despite unfortunate persistent orchestrated moves to discredit and delegitimize her from the very beginning of her term," Alvarez said.

Salvador Panelo, former Presidential legal counsel for the Duterte administration, said Duterte's resignation from the Cabinet is a huge loss to the Marcos administration.

"The departure from the Cabinet was forthcoming given the hostile environment the Vice President found herself in — created by the allies of PBBM who were in a hurry to diminish and dislodge her enviable leading spot in the 2028 presidential race," Panelo said in a statement.

He said Vice President Duterte has her reasons for leaving the Cabinet.

'Nabasag 'yung UniTeam': Duterte resignation saddens lawmaker

"The removal of a strong political ally, FGMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) from her position as Senior Deputy Speaker and later on as Deputy Speaker commenced the demolition job on VP Sara. This was followed by the almost unanimous approval of the removal of her confidential funds coming from the Office of the President," he said.

 "The ominous omission by PBBM to defend her on this issue added to her discomfort. The First Lady’s public disclosure of her displeasure on a perceived but misplaced slight reinforced the suffocating atmosphere."

Congressmen from the Makabayan bloc and the Liberal Party on Thursday rejected claims Duterte will be the new leader of the opposition, with LP leaders insisting their party is the genuine opposition, and Makabayan solons saying the Vice President falls short of the criteria to be opposition leader. 

NEW DEPED CHIEF

House Committee on Basic Education and Culture Chairperson and Pasig City Representative Roman Romulo urged the President to appoint a new DepEd chief who has political will to implement the needed reforms in the education sector.

"Yung mga sinasabi na dapat hindi pulitiko, dapat ay educator talaga, lahat naman ‘yan valid talaga. Pero at the end of the day that will be the discretion of the President… Ang importante talaga diyan, isang tao na may political will,” he said in an interview on PTV.

“Ang daming ideas diyan, ang daming eksperto, ang daming opinion, ang daming suggestions.  Kailangan mo talaga ng mamamahala diyan na makikinig sa lahat, pero magde-desisyon at i-implement ang desisyon niya. Because you cannot please everybody, ‘yan ang sigurado ko,” Romulo added.

House Committee on Ways and Means Chairperson and Albay 2nd District Representative Joey Salceda, meanwhile, recommends Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairperson Prospero de Vera and Synergeia Foundation head Milwida “Nene” Guevara as possible candidates for Secretary of Education.

“I have two names in mind for Secretary: Popoy de Vera and Nene Guevara. Few have ever had an impact on the education sector as large as the impact these two people have had on the sector,” Salceda said.

He noted that “the post is too important to be left vacant for long”.