On Romualdez’s order: Solons won’t dignify ‘Marcos resign’ call

FILE PHOTO: Party leaders in the House of Representatives are refusing to give their reaction to a call for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to resign. INQUIRER FILES

MANILA, Philippines — Party leaders in the House of Representatives have refused to fan the flame amid a call for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to resign.

Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. said that the President’s cousin, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, instructed them to “work as a team” and help temper political tensions in the country.

“Ang masasabi ko lang po, ang ipinagbilin ni Speaker ay we will work as a team para sa ating mga kababayan,” Gonzales said during a briefing on Wednesday, after a party leaders’ caucus. This was his reply when asked to comment on Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s call for Marcos to step down from office.

(All I can say is that the Speaker instructed us to work as a team for our countrymen.)

Rizal 1st District Rep. Jack Duavit also noted that it appears that Mayor Duterte already gave another statement to explain his demand for Marcos to resign, apparently referring to Mayor Duterte’s apology as relayed by Marcos’ sister, Senator Imee Marcos.

READ: Amid Duterte-Marcos verbal spat, public must stay neutral – groups

Duavit heads the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) contingent in the House.

“I think si Mayor Baste already gave a statement, nakita ko sa frontpage kanina. Respetuhin na lang ‘yung statement na para hindi pa tayo maglagay ng gasolina sa (kasalukuyang sitwasyon). May statement na po siya eh. Ako, I’ll just leave it at that,” Duavit said.

(I think Mayor Baste already gave a statement. I saw it on the front page earlier. Just respect the statement so we should not put fuel in (the current situation). He already has a statement. Me, I’ll just leave it at that.)

Bataan 2nd District Rep. Albert Garcia, the National Unity Party (NUP) secretary-general, likewise mentioned this instruction from Romualdez, adding that they would prefer to focus on legislative work instead.

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

“Sinabi nga ni Mayor Baste na binanggit ni Cong. Jack (Duavit) so I guess, kung na supersede na, ‘yon na ‘yun siguro. At tama, instructions nga ni Speaker ‘wag na palakihin ang gulo para makapagtrabaho na tayo for the progress of the country. Kaya let’s leave it at that,” he noted.

(Mayor Baste already made a statement, as mentioned by Cong. Jack (Duavit), so I guess, if it’s already superseded, maybe that’s it. And that’s right, the Speaker’s instructions are not to worsen the conflict so we can work for the country’s progress. So let’s leave it at that.)

During the Davao City rally on January 28, which coincided with the administration’s “Bagong Pilipinas” assembly in Manila, Mayor Duterte called on Marcos to resign if he has no love and aspiration for the country.

This led many people to believe that the cracks within the “UniTeam” alliance of the Dutertes and Marcos have turned into a full-blown rift.

Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte ran in the 2022 polls under UniTeam.

READ: House leaders to file resolution defending Romualdez amid Cha-cha discord

In the same rally staged by the Dutertes, former president Rodrigo Duterte accused Marcos of being high on cocaine.

According to the older Duterte, Marcos was a “drug addict then and a drug addict now as president,” adding that the incumbent President used to be on the watch list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). But the PDEA has denied this.

“You in the military, you know that for a fact, especially those of you assigned in Malacañang. The Armed Forces of the Philippines, you know this. We have a drug addict president, son of a bitch,” Duterte said.

Marcos, however, dismissed Duterte’s tirades and responded by saying that former president Duterte may have just been influenced by fentanyl.

READ: Marcos shoots back: Ex-president Duterte takes fentanyl

“Fentanyl is the strongest pain killer that you can buy,” Marcos said Monday, January 29. “It is highly addictive and it has very serious side effects. And PRRD (President Rodrigo Roa Duterte) has been taking the drug for a very long time now. When was the last time he told us that he was taking fentanyl? [About] five, six years ago, something like that. After five, six years, it has to affect [him]. [That’s why he’s like that.] I hope his doctors take better care of him.”

Vice President Sara Duterte, meanwhile, explained that the pronouncements of her brother, Mayor Sebastian Duterte, may have only been borne out of “brotherly love.”