Ka Leody thinks Baste Duterte’s Marcos resign call ‘self- serving’

FILE PHOTO: Labor leader Leody De Guzman described Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte’s call for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to resign as “self-serving.” (Photo from his Facebook page)

MANILA, Philippines — Labor leader Leody De Guzman described the Dutertes’ alleged “ouster plot” against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as an unparalleled display of hunger for power.

“Hindi pagmamahal sa bayan ang pinagmumulan ni Mayor Baste Duterte sa kanyang hamon kay BBM [Bongbong Marcos] kundi pag-ibig sa kapangyarihan,” de Guzman, who went against Marcos in the 2022 presidential polls, said in a statement on Wednesday.

(The source of Mayor Baste Duterte’s challenge to BBM [Bongbong Marcos] is not love for the people but love for power.)

De Guzman was referring to the pronouncements of Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte during a rally in Davao City on January 28, where the son of former president Rodrigo Duterte called on Marcos to resign. Baste Duterte even described the incumbent president as “lazy and [lacking in] compassion.”

READ: Marcos ‘resign’ – Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte

However, De Guzman branded Baste Duterte’s remarks as a “naked display of self-interest.”

According to the labor leader, the Davao City mayor’s demand for Marcos to step down would eventually benefit her sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, as Article VII Section 7 of the 1987 Constitution provides that the country’s vice president shall become president in case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the president.

READ: ‘It’s the fentanyl,’ Marcos says after former president Duterte tags him ‘drug addict’

Sara Duterte was President Marcos’ running mate in the 2022 elections.

“Baste’s proposal for BBM to resign is indeed ‘self-serving.’ Because what this means is that the ‘constitutional succession’ will proceed, and his sister Sara will automatically be appointed as president!” de Guzman stressed.

On Tuesday, Senator Imee Marcos, said Baste Duterte has already apologized for his remarks against her brother.

READ: Sen. Imee says Baste already issued apology for ‘Marcos resign’ statement

“Mayor Baste Duterte approached me. He apologized over and over again,” she said in Filipino during an ambush interview.

Meanwhile, Vice President Duterte said in a statement that the Davao City mayor’s pronouncements against President Marcos were borne out of “brotherly love.”

“I can only surmise that he is coming from a place of brotherly love, coupled [with] the common sentiment that I do not deserve the despicable treatment that I am receiving from some sectors within the circle of the President,” the Vice President said.