A heated exchange erupted between House Majority Leader Sandro Marcos and Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, centering on corruption allegations and the recent shake-up in House leadership.
The feud broke out in late September after Paolo Duterte — son of former President Rodrigo Duterte — accused Sandro Marcos, son of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., of engineering the election of Rep. Faustino “Bojie” Dy III as House Speaker.
Rep. Paolo Duterte branded the move a “cover-up” designed to shield administration allies from corruption investigations and cast doubt on the integrity of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, the ruling party shared by both Marcos and Dy.
“Now, Martin Romualdez will be replaced, and then Rep. Faustino ‘Bojie’ Dy will be installed as Speaker. Whose choice was it? None other than Sandro Marcos — party-mate in Partido Federal, the son of the President himself. What is this? Just another cover-up move,” Rep. Duterte was quoted to have said.
Rep. Marcos swiftly responded, dismissing Duterte’s claims and taking aim at his attendance record. “He’d understand the consultative process if he actually showed up to sessions,” Marcos said, adding a pointed jab: “Maybe he’s busy looking for the ₱51 billion funneled to his district during his father’s term.”
The ₱51 billion funneled into Duterte’s district from 2019 to 2022 marks the largest allocation ever granted to a congressman within a single term. The fund has drawn sharp criticism over its alleged lack of transparency.
Marcos also maintained that he did not dip his fingers in the choice of the new House Speaker.
“That may have been his style when he was the son of the president but I can assure you that we are consultative with all the party leaders. You can ask them, we met for plenty of weeks,” Marcos said.
Responding to the attack, Rep. Paolo Duterte insisted that the ₱49.8 billion allocated to his district — contrary to Marcos’s ₱51 billion claim — was fully accounted for. He released a video outlining the funded projects.
“If only the gentleman from Ilocos were not blind and deaf to the clamor of our people — a clamor drowned by the influence of money and power — he would know that DPWH-11 has already clarified that the ₱49.8-billion worth of projects in Davao City are all accounted for.”
On his frequent absences during House sessions, Duterte said: “I have refrained from regularly attending sessions not out of neglect but because the stench of graft and corruption has become unbearable within these very halls.”
Duterte then turned the tables, accusing Sandro Marcos of disregarding public demands for transparency and daring him to disclose spending records from his own district.
Duterte escalated his attack, branding Congress a “stench of graft and corruption” and provocatively urging Sandro Marcos and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to undergo a public drug test — a pointed swipe at persistent but unverified rumors alleging drug use among top administration officials.
The clash between Sandro Marcos and Paolo Duterte laid bare the simmering rift between the Marcos and Duterte camps, intensified by the recent resignation of Speaker Martin Romualdez — Marcos’ uncle — amid corruption allegations.
Duterte’s broadsides appear calculated to expose what he frames as entrenched rot within the system, while Marcos positions himself as a defender of the administration’s legitimacy and institutional process.
Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio, Paolo’s sister, has been on the offensive for months —repeatedly targeting the administration of Sandro’s father, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
