Duterte asks Tarlaqueños to forget about political colors

President Duterte talks to the soldiers and Policemen during the groundbreaking of the Casa San Miguel Housing project for the AFP and PNP at Barngay San Agustin , Concepcion Tarlac.
INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday asked residents of Tarlac, a known bailiwick of the Aquino clan, to forget about political colors and to accept the Ilocanos’ desire to consider the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos a hero for the sake of unity.

Mr. Duterte was in Tarlac City for its 145th founding anniversary and 2nd Kanlahi Festival.

In his speech, he justified his controversial decision to allow the burial of the late dictator at Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Mr. Duterte then segued to politics, mentioning the “yellows.”

After picking yellow flowers from a stage display to highlight his point, he held them up.

“I mean no insult,” he said. “This, this is their color. I hope that after the elections, they’ll stop.”

He asked the audience to understand the Ilocanos’ support for Marcos, who was one of their own.

“If the Ilocanos would like to have a hero in the name of Ferdinand Marcos, give it to them.

Otherwise, half of Ilocandia … will harbor resentment and it will continue to divide the country,” he said. —Leila B. Salaverria