Marcos willing to reconcile with Dutertes

MANILA, Philippines — With some groups blaming the defeat of administration candidates on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte and the arrest of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, President Marcos said yesterday he is open to reconciliation with his political foes.

In a podcast posted on his YouTube channel, broadcaster Anthony Taberna asked Marcos whether he is open to restoring his relationship with the Dutertes.

The President replied, “Oo. Ako, ayaw ko ng gulo. Gusto ko makasundo sa lahat ng tao. Mas maganda (Yes. I don’t want trouble. I want to get along with everyone. That’s better).”

“Marami na akong kaaway at hindi ko kailangan ng kaaway. Kailangan ko kaibigan (I already have many enemies and I don’t need enemies. I need friends),” Marcos said.

The President said the country’s stability and peace are important so the government can continue its job.

“Kaya ako, laging bukas sa ganyan (That’s why I’m always open to it),” he said, referring to a possible reconciliation with his political foes.

Marcos said he is “always open to any approach” and that even if he and his critics “don’t agree on policies,” they can always focus on work without stirring trouble.

“Let’s avoid, let’s get rid of bickering,” Marcos said.

His interview came exactly a week after the midterm polls. Only six senatorial candidates endorsed by Marcos made it to the Senate. They are former Senate president Vicente Sotto III, former senator Panfilo Lacson, former Social Welfare chief Erwin Tulfo, re-electionists Lito Lapid and Pia Cayetano and Las Piñas City Rep. Camille Villar.

The Alyansa did not drop Villar from its slate even after the latter openly sought and gained the Vice President’s endorsement.

Marcos also said he may have to be tougher to get things done and to instill fear among wrongdoers and underperformers in government.

He acknowledged that the recently concluded midterm polls reflected the Filipinos’ disappointment with government services.

“That’s what we are supposed to be doing. It’s good that the election is over. Enough of politics. Let us work. Let us do what we are supposed to do,” the President told Taberna.

“People are disappointed with the service of the government... The progress of projects is too slow and they cannot feel it,” he said.

“I said we have to change it. I looked at the huge and difficult projects for the long term and their effect. We will work on that.”

Marcos said the administration’s priority projects include those in the tourism, health and transportation sectors. He noted some projects like the Metro Manila Subway do not have problems but would take time to complete.

“But we need to do it. If we do not do it, what will happen? We will be stagnant. We have to do something new. There is a good saying, if not us, who? If not now, when? We need to do it,” he added.

Marcos said he has realized that not enough attention was given to small things that would improve the daily lives of people, like the train queues and the traffic situation.

“We will now give attention to these,” he said.

Asked to react to claims that he is not accomplishing the things he wants to do because he is “too nice,” Marcos said he could no longer change his attitude, but acknowledged that being tough has its advantages.

“What can I do? Become a bad guy? I cannot change my attitude. But you know, I really have to be tougher. There is a need to make things more efficient and faster. Perhaps that is one of our lessons from the past election.”

Pressed whether he prefers to be respected or feared, Marcos replied: “I want to be respected but maybe feared is better.”

Marcos also attributed the slow movement of government initiatives to what he described as “contradictory” laws. He said unlike in a private corporation, where something is carried out once ordered by the chief executive officer, the President has to convince a lot of people to implement something.

“Here in the government, if you have a new initiative, a new idea, you will relay it to the rank and file so it can be implemented. But the usual answer is ‘Sir, that cannot be done. We might be flagged by the COA (Commission on Audit),’ That’s true. We have a number of laws. Sometimes, they are contradictory,” he said.

Marcos reiterated that the impeachment trial of Duterte is now in the hands of the Senate.

“There is a process for that. Let us allow the process to take its course. For me, what’s on my mind is that the election is over. Back to work,” he said.

Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco earlier insisted it was the impeachment of Duterte that caused the administration Senate slate to lose votes, particularly in Mindanao. Tiangco was the campaign manager of Alyansa.

“There is a negative sentiment. If you’re running, will you take the risk? No candidate will take the risk! He will think first of his own (political) survival, especially if emotions are high,” he said in an interview on “Big Story,” referring to allegations that the 215 House members who voted to impeach Duterte had been promised funds by the chamber’s leadership.

In Davao City last Sunday, Duterte said she is ready to stand before a Senate impeachment trial, and warned the proceedings would be a “bloodbath.”

No chance for ‘bloodbath’

After their proclamation yesterday as first nominees of Akbayan and Mamamayang Liberal partylists, Chel Diokno and Leila de Lima said they won’t give Duterte the chance to make good on her “bloodbath” threat.

“I don’t know where she’s coming from. The impeachment trial is a civilized legal process. The whole country will know the truth,” Dikno said in Filipino.

De Lima said the Vice President is just courting sympathy, as she stressed that an impeachment trial is a sacred constitutional process without drama and theatrics.

“This is a serious undertaking where due process and rule of law are strictly followed,” De Lima said.

For a member of the prosecution panel of the House of Representatives, an impeachment trial is not a “bloodbath” but a forum for “truth and accountability.”

House Deputy Majority Leader Lorenz Defensor, in an interview over dzBB, said he was rectifying Duterte’s take on her coming impeachment trial, which she revealed to reporters in Davao City last Sunday.

“Perhaps it would be best if we say this impeachment trial is where the ‘winner takes it all,’ it doesn’t have to be a bloodbath. We want to be very clear in laying down the prosecution’s evidence, as well as the defense team,” Defensor, who is from Iloilo, said.

He stressed the impeachment trial is “not about spectacle or animosity,” as the prosecutors were buttressing evidence to make sure whatever decision the impeachment court makes would be acceptable to all parties.

“We want to see that VP Dutere is fully prepared so that, if in case she is acquitted, it would be easier for the people to accept the outcome, which includes the 215 House members who signed the impeachment complaint,” Defensor said.

“And for the record, it is our wish and our hope that the Supreme Court will no longer interfere and meddle in the impeachment process, because this is purely a political process,” he said.

“I am confident our Supreme Court will respect the separation of powers,” he added.

The complaint accuses her of culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust, citing among others her alleged misuse of confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, which she headed; as well as her alleged threat to have President Marcos and his family assassinated.

Defensor pointed out that the impeachment of a high-ranking official is not a judicial proceeding, but a political one, as provided for under the 1987 Constitution and entrusted solely to the legislative branch.

“It is a political question that only elected senators and congressmen should answer, and should not be the subject of any interference by the SC, especially if there is no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Senate or the House,” Defensor explained. — Delon Porcalla, Mayen Jaymalin