Vice President Sara Duterte said that she is not prioritizing reconciliation talks with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., focusing on public matters instead of 'personal issues'.

In an ambush interview in The Hague, Netherlands, Duterte said that she would not talk about reconciliation because 'personal problems were not important'.

"First of all, I won't talk about reconciliation because personal problems aren't important. What's more important are the people and our country," Duterte said.

The Vice President's comment is a response to Marcos' statement in a podcast with broadcast journalist Anthony Taberna on May 19 that he was open to reconciling with the Dutertes.

"Yes, I don't want a fight. I want to agree with everyone. That's better. I have a lot of enemies, I don't need enemies, I need friends," Marcos said.

Duterte is in the Netherlands to celebrate her 47th birthday with her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte who is currently detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague due to alleged crimes against humanity during the deadly War on Drugs.

The Vice President is in The Hague with her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman, and re-elected Senator Imee Marcos.

The Vice President shared that she was able to see her father for an hour on Friday and that they talked about the results of the May 2025 midterm elections.

"I told him that two of his PDP Laban senator candidates won, and that his guest candidate [Rodante] Marcoleta, plus two guest candidates from Alyansa, Senator Camille Villar and Senador Imee Marcos," Duterte shared.

Senator Marcos was not allowed to visit former President Duterte despite him wanting to meet her, yet was still able to talk with Duterte's lead counsel, Nicholas Kauffman.

"He was thankful. He said that he wanted to talk to Senator Imee but he wasn't allowed but he said maybe there would be another time for that," Duterte explained.

Duterte also mentioned that her father wants to take his oath after being elected as mayor of Davao City.

"Set me free and I will take an oath," Duterte said, quoting her father.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has previously announced that they will be asking the ICC to allow former President Duterte to take oath as Davao City mayor while he is detained at The Hague.

Duterte also agreed with the results of the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey which showed that 88 percent of respondents said that it was important for the Vice President to answer allegations against her through the impeachment trial.

"I totally agree. I'm part of that 88 percent. I'm thankful for the opportunity to clear my name and to answer the accusations against me," Duterte said.

She also said that the Senate's decision to move the presentation of the articles of impeachment to June 11 from its original June 2 schedule has no effect on her.

"It doesn't have an effect on me, we'll just leave it to our lawyers, the defense impeachment lawyers," she added. Yzabela Velez-White/DMS