Baste Duterte to Marcos: Resign if you can’t make love of country a priority

MANILA, Philippines – Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte on Sunday, January 28, reminded President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that it was his father who granted the long-standing wish of the Marcos clan to give the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. a hero’s burial.

“My father allowed their father to be buried,” Duterte said in Bisaya, referring to former president Rodrigo Duterte’s move to allow the burial of the late Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. He was given full military honors in November 2016. Martial Law survivors filed petitions blocking the move, but the Supreme Court ultimately voted in favor of the hero’s burial.

The younger Duterte’s statement comes amid rumors that the International Criminal Court was able to enter the Philippines as part of its ongoing investigation into the killings under Rodrigo Duterte’s violent war on drugs.

“Nasakitan kaayo ko (I was really hurt),” the younger Duterte said, adding that “they want to imprison my father.”

Sebastian also took the ongoing rift between his family and the Marcos administration to another level by calling on the President to resign. He said that Marcos should leave his post if he does not have love and aspirations for the Philippines.

“Mr. President, if wala kay gugma ug aspirations sa imohang nasod, resign,” he said during an earlier Hakbang ng Maisug Leaders Forum in Davao City. (Mr. President, if you do not have love and aspirations for your country, resign.”)

Sebastian, the younger brother of Vice President Sara Duterte, criticized Marcos for allowing issues to continue under his watch, including the division in his administration.

“You haven’t done anything to fix things [and] this has been going on for about a year,” he said in Bisaya. “If you are holding a position in government and then you prioritize… and then your love for self comes first, this is exactly what will happen.”

The younger Duterte’s jarring criticism is the latest in the ongoing rift between the Marcos-Duterte faction, or the UniTeam, as both sides stage show-of-force events on Sunday.

The Marcos administration launched the “Bagong Pilipinas (new Philippines)” movement at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila. According to the Philippine Information Agency, the event aimed to “ignite hope and inspire participation in building a better Philippines through collective action.”

Meanwhile, the multi-sectoral prayer rally in Davao City entitled “One Nation, One Opposition” is organized by supporters of the Duterte family and seeks to protest against ongoing efforts to change the Philippine Constitution.

Sara’s take

In a statement on Monday, January 29, Vice President Sara Duterte said she has not spoken with her younger brother about his remarks about the President.

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

She said she was determined to continue her work as secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), unless Marcos Jr. said otherwise, because she was elected to work and serve the country.

“Kasama ng tiwalang ito, ang tiwalang kakayanin ko ang anumang atake, black propaganda, paninirang-puri, at iba pang mga hamon na ibabato sa aking pagkatao…. Uunahin ko ang Pilipinas,” Sara said.

(With this trust, I believe I can handle any attack, black propaganda, defamation, and other challenges thrown at my character…. My priority is the Philippines.) – With reports from Manman Dejeto and Ferdinandh Cabrera/Rappler.com