SEN. Christopher “Bong” Go on Wednesday afternoon said the Marcos administration should first bring former president Rodrigo “Tatay Digong” Duterte home before any offer of reconciliation between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Dutertes can be considered.
Go, in a chance interview in Tondo, Manila, said bringing home the 80-year old Duterte from The Hague, where he is detained for crimes against humanity, would be a good gesture on the part of Marcos and would prove that he is sincere in reuniting with the camp of Duterte.
“Importante rito yung sinseridad po ng bawat isa. Kung gusto po ninyo ng reconciliation, pabalikin niyo muna si Tatay Digong dahil siya naman po ang dapat kausapin. Siya yung elder Duterte
(Sincerity is important. If he [Marcos] really wants reconciliation, he must bring Tatay Digong [Duterte] home because he is the one he should talk to. He [Duterte] is the elder Duterte),” Go said.
Former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo has earlier made a similar statement.
Panelo said that to prove his sincerity in making the reconciliation call, the Marcos administration should submit an intervention to the International Criminal Court (ICC) stating that the country is not under ICC jurisdiction and that Duterte’s arrest was a mistake.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said that the President’s offer of reconciliation does not mean he would violate or ignore the law.
“When he was asked if he is open to reconciliation, he never said he would not implement the law, he never said he would forgive those who violated the law,” Castro has said.
Go said that if the administration was able to send Duterte to the ICC then it can also bring him back home.
“My personal thought on this, importante rito yung sinseridad. Dapat sincere ka sa pag-uusap at ang unang hakbang diyan ay pauwiin si Tatay Digong (My personal though on this is that sincerity is important. You must be sincere and the first step to that is to bring Tatay Digong home),” he said.
“Alam kong kaya niyo rin pong ipabalik siya rito sa lalong mabilis na panahon. Siya po ang dapat kausapin. Paano niyo kakausapin kung wala siya rito? (I believe that they can bring him home at the soonest possible time. He [Duterte] is the one they should be talking to. But how can they talk to him when he is not here?),” he said.
