Makabayan bloc House members ACT Rep. France Castro, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel. (INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO)
MANILA, Philippines — With the spotlight now on the brewing feud between the camps of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former president Rodrigo Duterte, Makabayan bloc solons fear that the concerns and the interests of the people have been sidelined.
In a joint statement on Monday, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel believe that the recent political bickering is just borne of both camps’ yearning to “monopolize power in the country.”
“As things stand, the open war now raging between the Marcos and Duterte camps is all just to monopolize power in the country. Pres. Marcos Jr. wants to perpetuate himself in power just like his dictator father, which is against the 1987 Constitution, that is why his camp wants Charter change thru the fake people’s initiative,” Makabayan said.
“The Duterte camp, for its part, wants to return to Malacañang that is why many quarters are saying they are behind destabilization moves and the call for Marcos Jr. to resign so that Sara Duterte can become president,” it added.
However, in all these discussions, Makabayan claimed the interests of taxpayers are left behind — as major problems like rising prices of oil products and food items, low salaries of workers, and the lack of protection for farmers and fisherfolk are still persistent.
“In all this political maneuvering and bickering, it is the Filipino people who are again suffering. These costly political intramurals at the expense of taxpayers would not lower the price of rice or gasoline. It would not ensure the livelihood of PUV drivers and operators,” Makabayan said.
“It would not raise the salaries of workers, teachers and other government employees. It would not give land to farmers or protect our fisherfolk from China’s bullying. It would not stop our country from being used as a military base of the US (United States),” it added.
Instead of siding with one political camp, Makabayan urged Filipinos to reject both sides’ yearning for power, noting that the focus should be on improving people’s lives.
“We call on the Filipino people to reject the fake People’s Initiative for Marcos term extension as well as the Duterte power grab. We need to strengthen a grassroots movement to forward substantial socio-economic reforms to address long-standing crises suffered by generations of Filipinos amid the decadence and manipulation of ruling cliques in power,” Makabayan said.
“The Filipino people must take charge of the nation’s future,” they added.
On Sunday, former President Duterte claimed PDEA showed him information showing that Marcos is supposedly linked to illegal drugs. The former leader’s son, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, also called on Marcos to resign if he has no aspirations for the Filipino people.
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, President Marcos’ cousin and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez called on Duterte to stop misleading people, asking the Duterte camp to show sufficient proof before making wild accusations.
Romualdez is one of the crucial pieces to the Uniteam, the 2022 elections tandem of Marcos 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 Vice President Duterte claimed that Romualdez — her campaign manager — was not a significant 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. VP Duterte has stated several times that she considers Arroyo a mentor.
READ: Sara says Imee Marcos, not Romualdez, pushed me to run for VP
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.
Former President Duterte then claimed that the House is the most rotten government organization, which was condemned by the entire chamber.