MANILA, Philippines 鈥� President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. initially paused before delivering his speech at the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas rally in Pasay City on Tuesday.
Marcos explained he is just checking if his senatorial candidates are still healthy and safe from grenade attacks鈥攁n apparent reference to threats from former President Rodrigo Duterte to kill senators to make way for Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) senatorial bets.
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鈥淧agbigyan niyo po ako at binibilang ko lang 鈥檡ong aming mga kandidato, dahil tinitiyak ko at kumpleto at wala pang napasabugan ng granada,鈥� Marcos said.
(Please bear with me as I am counting our candidates, I am just ensuring that they are complete and nobody has been hit by a grenade.)
READ: Rodrigo Duterte faces sedition rap for 鈥榢ill senators鈥� quip
According to Marcos, people attending Alyansa rallies would not hear any threats of violence or any curses from him.
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鈥淜aya naman po, wala po kayong maririnig na mga ganyan, 鈥檡an na po ang kaibahan ng Alyansa sa lahat ng mga iba pang tumatakbo dito sa halalan na ito. Wala po kayong maririnig na masasamang salita, wala po kayong maririnig na panakot, wala po kayong maririnig na pagmumura,鈥� he added.
(You would not hear anything like that from me, that is the difference with Alyansa and other slates running for this election. You would not hear bad words, you would not hear threats, you would not hear curses from me.)
Marcos said that in Alyansa, what people will hear would be the platforms of their candidates, and what they were able to do while they were in office.
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鈥淒ahil po, nakita niyo naman pala, narinig niyo po ang programa ng ating mga kandidato, hindi lamang ang programa, mas mahalaga pa siguro ang kanilang nagawa na,鈥� he added.
(Here, you would see what are the programs of our candidates, not only the programs, but more importantly, what they have done.)
Last February 13, at the PDP proclamation rally, Duterte appeared to joke about killing 15 senators to make room for their candidates to enter the Senate.
鈥淣ow, there鈥檚 many of them. What should we do? Let鈥檚 kill the senators now to create vacancies,鈥� he said in Filipino, eliciting laughter from the audience.
Several of the former president鈥檚 critics have already called him out for the remarks, with ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro saying that murder and terrorism are not joking matters.
Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel鈥攚ho used to be a key Duterte ally during the 17th Congress鈥攎eanwhile noted that mentioning death and killing at any given chance may be a worrying sign of a serious personality disorder.
Maj. Gen. Nicolas Torre III, chief of the Philippine National Police鈥檚 Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, has already filed a complaint of inciting sedition against former Duterte over these remarks.
This is not the first time that Marcos threw jabs against Duterte. At the proclamation rally in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Marcos said that the Alyansa candidates are not tainted by Oplan Tokhang, or the past administration鈥檚 anti-drug campaign.
Marcos also urged voters to go straight for Alyansa鈥攙oting 12-0鈥攊f they do not want the Philippines to return to its bloody past.