MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang said Friday that there is no legal impediment stopping President Rodrigo Duterte from taking a Cabinet position under the incoming administration of president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
At a press briefing Friday afternoon, acting deputy presidential spokesperson Kris Ablan said that the president can still take a post as a drug czar under the Marcos administration.
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To recall, the incoming president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday that the door is open for Duterte to claim a Cabinet seat "if he wants to." He added that he was "certainly open" to the idea of tapping Duterte, particularly as a drug czar.
"When it comes to that, there is no legal impediment for a former president to assume an executive position in the executive branch. Actually, he can also run, just not for the presidency again," he said in mixed Filipino and English.
But will President Duterte actually take Marcos up on his offer?
"Whether President Duterte will take the offer, that's up to him. As far as we know, the President is looking forward to his retirement," he said. "But it's welcome news, because the president has already said that the fight versus drugs needs to continue."
Rights groups both here and abroad say the death toll of the administration's bloody anti-drug campaign may be as high as 30,000 deaths since Duterte's "war" began in 2016. However, consolidated numbers from the Philippine National Police, Dangerous Drugs Board, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency only acknowledge 6,241 of these as of March 31.
It was under Duterte's term that the late ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. was buried in the Libingan ng mga Bayani. But during the campaign season, Duterte also called Marcos a "spoiled brat" and a "weak leader" despite the latter running alongside his daughter.
"We are long-time friends, even when he is still mayor of Davao City. I’m sure that if he wants to play a part, he will tell me," Marcos Jr. also said of Duterte the day before. — Franco Luna