DUTERTE-MARCOS VERBAL BRAWL Multiple progressive groups have reminded Filipinos not to take sides in the heated volley of accusations between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (left) and former President Rodrigo Duterte (right), stressing that neither of them represents genuine change. INQUIRER FILES PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines — Multiple progressive groups have reminded Filipinos to remain impartial amid the heated exchange of accusations between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) President Renato Reyes Jr. said in a statement Tuesday that the two factions are merely fighting over who controls the country’s ” spoils ” as neither represents genuine change.
“At the end of the day, we cannot place our hopes in any of these factions given the interests they represent,” Reyes stressed.
Anakbayan, meanwhile, condemned the “pointing of fingers” between the two camps.
“Imbis na gumawa ng mga kongkretong hakbang para apulahin ang lumalalang krisis na dinaranas ng mamamayan, mas pinipili ng mga kampo ni Marcos Jr. at mga Duterte na magbardagulan para sa sariling interes nila,” Anakbayan national spokesperson Kate Almenzo said.
(Instead of taking concrete steps to address the worsening crisis experienced by the people, the camps of Marcos Jr. and the Dutertes choose to engage in a brawl for their interests.)
READ: I’ll order arrest of PI movers of Cha-cha if I regain power – Rodrigo Duterte
Fisherfolk group Pamalakaya likewise condemned Duterte’s “hi-jacking” of the fight against Charter change, noting that the former president himself did not honor the Constitution during his administration.
The group alleged that Duterte “openly surrendered” the country’s “national sovereignty to China in exchange for foreign loans,” which they said increased Beijing’s military presence in the West Philippine Sea to the detriment of Filipino fisherfolk.
In a speech during a prayer rally at Davao City on Sunday, a fuming Duterte alleged that Marcos has been on the watch list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). He claimed the list was shown to him when he was still mayor of Davao City.
But PDEA denied such a claim, saying President Marcos Jr. was never on the government’s drug watch list.
On Monday, Marcos claimed that former president Duterte has been using fentanyl, which he described as a painkiller that causes adverse side effects. The President suggested that the drug might have been the cause of his predecessor’s outbursts.