MANILA, Philippines — Why is the soft-spoken and diplomatic President Marcos hurling tirades at his fiery predecessor Rodrigo Duterte during the campaign rallies of administration allies?
As far as Malacañang is concerned, even the highest official of the land needs to parry attacks by his critics who are “encouraging” people to be furious with the government.
According to Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro, such a move also imparts a message about Marcos’ leadership.
“The President has to be transparent about his insights sometimes and to relay to the people that he is not and will never be a weak leader,” Castro said at a press briefing yesterday.
In his speeches during the campaign sorties of the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas, Marcos assailed the policies of the Duterte administration, including its pivot to China and its brutal war on illegal drugs that he said claimed innocent lives.
Not to be outdone, Duterte also slammed the President in various “indignation rallies,” accusing Marcos of “veering toward a dictatorship” and of seeking to stay in power after his term expires in 2028.
Duterte, who had accused Marcos of being a “weak leader,” also claimed that the impeachment of his daughter Vice President Sara Duterte by the House of Representatives was meant to prevent her from running for president in 2028.
Malacañang responded by calling Duterte a “tyrant” and a “one-man fake-news factory.”
The House, which is dominated by the President’s allies, impeached the Vice President over her supposed failure to properly account for the confidential funds given to her office, the alleged extrajudicial killings in Davao and a supposed plot to kill the President, the First Lady and Speaker Martin Romualdez, among other allegations.
Destabilization?
In the same press briefing, Castro hit Sara for saying that people have the right to show their anger to the government. The Vice President made the remark in a recent radio interview in Cebu.
“It is saddening that the second highest leader of the country is encouraging people to be angry with the government,” the Palace official said.
“The question is during the time of her father, did she say that you can be angry (with the government)?” she added.
Castro said it would be better if the Vice President encourages the people to help the government instead of sowing hatred.
“Why only now? More things happened during the time of her father. Does her encouragement of people to be angry have a link with the reported destabilization?” Castro added.
Asked if the administration has received information about a destabilization, Castro replied: “We do not have information about destabilization, but if you notice their statements if there are rallies, they are sowing hatred and are trying to make people believe that the government now is abusive and excessive. Based on that, we can see and feel where they are heading to.”
Castro said nothing was heard from Marcos when the alleged anomalies in the Sara-led Department of Education (DepEd) surfaced.
The Vice President served as DepEd secretary for nearly two years. The Palace official cited the wasted food under the DepEd’s feeding program, which had a total amount of P5.6 billion.
Asked why the President did not say anything on the food wastage issue, Castro replied: “He (Marcos) does not malign his colleagues in the government. He lets the authorities and agencies investigate. He does not ask the people to be angry. That’s not the personality of the President.”