Marcos ‘no reaction’ to VP Duterte’s remarks on showing anger 鈥� Palace
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte.
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has “no reaction” to Vice President Sara Duterte’s remark about people’s right to show anger, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said Thursday.
Castro explained that people have the right to show their “anger” to the administration as part of their constitutional right.
During the People’s Indignation Rally on February 22 in Mandaue City, Cebu, Duterte told DySS Super Radyo GMA in Bisaya that “It is the right of the people to show their anger; we have what we call constitutional protection of the freedom of speech and freedom of expression.”
“When the President found out about this, he did not react,” Castro said in Filipino during a Palace briefing on Thursday.
“We know the President, he doesn’t just react to things like this,” she added.
Article continues after this advertisementCastro questioned whether Vice President Duterte expressed the same sentiments when her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, was hailed as “Person of the Year” in 2017 for his crackdown on illegal drugs.
The Global Investigative Journalism Network gives the title to an individual “who has done the most in the world to advance organized criminal activity and corruption.”
READ: Global investigative journalism network names Duterte its 2017 “Person of the Year”
“We have nothing to say about how she expresses her feelings, but why only now? A lot more happened during her father’s time. So, is she encouraging people to be angry somehow linked to the alleged destabilization?” Castro asked.
“The only question is: During her father’s time, did she also say that people could be angry, especially when her father was labeled, recognized, and named the ‘most corrupt’ in 2017?” she added.
“Do you remember that in 2016, the former president was only a runner-up for the ‘most corrupt’ title? He was recognized by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. But in 2017, former President Duterte leveled up and became the awardee, officially recognized as the ‘Person of the Year’ for being the most corrupt,” she pointed out.
VP Duterte shouldn’t encourage anger toward gov’t
Castro also expressed dismay at how Duterte seemed to encourage anger towards the government.
“It is saddening that, instead of upholding her position as the second-highest leader of the country, she seems to be encouraging people to be angry at the government,” she said in Filipino.
“So, being the Vice President, it would be better if she encourages people to cooperate instead of having this feeling of hatred against the government. It would be best if we all moved forward together rather than having some individuals who seek to bring the government down,” she added.
Asked whether the Marcos administration had ever received any formal information about planned destabilization, Castro said there was none.
“We don’t have formal information about any destabilization, but we can observe from their statements during rallies that they incite anger and they urge people to believe that the government is abusive and excessive. Just from that alone, we can already see and sense where they are headed,” she explained.
She also pointed out that Duterte’s remarks in the rally cannot be classified as sedition or as conduct inciting the public to rebel against the authority of the state.
