House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and former president Rodrigo Duterte (PHOTO: House of Representatives/WEBSITE; REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez)
MANILA, Philippines — House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has asked the family of former president Rodrigo Duterte to show actual proof that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been using illegal drugs, noting that anti-narcotics agencies have maintained that the Chief Executive is not on their watchlist.
Romualdez on Monday urged the Dutertes to think hard before making accusations without proof, as both the former president and his son, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, claimed that Marcos was using illegal drugs.
Earlier, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) maintained that President Marcos was never on the government watchlist for illegal drugs.
“So unless you have proof na ‘yung mga alegasyon ninyo na kung bakit nananawagan dyan na sa ating mahal na Presidente Ferdinand R. Marcos na bumaba sa pwesto sana mag isip-isip muna kayo, mag-isip muna kayo at ilabas ‘yung mga pruweba. Kasi alam natin hindi totoo ang mga sinasabi ninyo,” Romualdez said during the House party leaders caucus.
(So unless you have proof as to your allegations, which is why you’re supposedly calling for our President Ferdinand R. Marcos to step down from his post, I hope you think hard and show proof. Because we know what you’re saying is not true.)
“Walang katotohanan ‘yan. Si Mr. former president sabi niya nasa drug list, na-check natin na never na si President Ferdinand R. Marcos ay nailagay sa drug list. Kaya hindi ko alam kung nag iisto-istorya ka na naman. Tigilian mo na ‘yung budol-budol galing sa Davao,” he added.
(There is no truth to that. Mr. former president said he (Marcos) is on the drug list, but we checked and saw that President Ferdinand R. Marcos was never included. That’s why I don’t know if you’re making up stories. Stop these misleading acts from Davao.)
Romualdez also took notice of the alleged attempts from the Dutertes to bring down the Marcos administration too early into its term.
According to the Speaker, the Dutertes should respect the current leadership as they have been accorded the same respect when the former president was in office.
“Sa pamilyang Duterte, siguro konting galang naman sa ating mahal na presidente tsaka sa pamilya n’ya. Noong panahon ng rehimen n’yo, iginalang naman kayo,” Romualdez said.
(To the Dutertes, maybe have some respect for our President and his family. When it was the time of your regime, you were respected.)
“Masyadong maaga naman ninyo gustong ipabagsak ang rehimen ng President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., very popular and he was elected with a bigger mandate than the former president. Kaya’t igalang naman natin ‘yan. ‘Yan po ang mandato ng taumbayan ng Pilipinas,” he added.
(It is too early for you to want the regime of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to crumble — which is very popular, and he was elected with a bigger mandate than the former president. That’s why we should respect it. It was the mandate of the Filipino people.)
On Sunday, former president Duterte claimed PDEA showed him information showing that Marcos is supposedly linked to illegal drugs. However, PDEA contradicted Duterte, saying that the current President was never on the watchlist.
READ: Bongbong Marcos was never on gov’t watch list for illegal drugs — PDEA
Earlier, Romualdez also called on Duterte to stop misleading people, asking why the former president is now against constitutional amendments when he was a strong proponent of shifting the Philippines into a federalist state.
Romualdez and House officials are pushing for amendments to the 1987 Constitution, with the House saying that they are open to reviewing People’s Initiative (PI) proposals. Duterte, however, on Sunday said that if he returns to power, he will have PI initiators arrested for supposedly coercing people into signing the signature campaign.
READ: I’ll order arrest of PI movers of Cha-cha if I regain power – Rodrigo Duterte
Romualdez, a cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., was one of the crucial characters to the Uniteam, the 2022 elections tandem of the Chief Executive and Duterte’s daughter, current Vice President Sara Duterte.
But in 2023, there were speculations that the honeymoon period for the Uniteam had waned off after Duterte’s daughter and incumbent Vice President Sara Duterte claimed that Romualdez — her campaign manager — was not a big factor in her decision to run for higher office.
Vice President Duterte said this after the House-led Romualdez demoted Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from senior deputy speaker to deputy speaker.
Then, during the budget season, the House ultimately decided to strip the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) — offices headed by Duterte — its confidential fund (CF) requests.
OVP asked for a P500 million CF for 2024, while DepEd wanted a P150 million CF. Both agencies’ secret funds were among the P1.23 billion CFs slashed by Congress.
On Sunday, after months of speculation of a rift, ex-president Duterte’s son and Davao Mayor Sebastian Duterte asked President Marcos to resign if he has no aspirations for the country.