PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday took a dig at former President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte for what he described as his “confusing” and flip-flopping statements on the issue of Charter change.
“Na-co-confuse ako kay PRRD (Duterte). Papalit-palit eh (I am getting confused with Duterte. He keeps on changing his statements),” Marcos said in an interview before her left Berlin, Germany on Wednesday.
The President was asked to comment on Duterte’s recent statement that Marcos and his allies in Congress are supposedly pushing for Charter revisions to lift term limits and extend their current terms.
Duterte made the remark when he delivered a speech during a rally in Manila in support of televangelist Apollo Quiboloy last Tuesday.
Marcos said he would review Duterte’s statement and try to make some sense of it.
“Tingnan ko muna kung ano ba talaga ang sinabi niya para maintindihan ko dahil hindi ko talaga naintindihan kasi parang naiiba. Bawat salita niya iba e. So, I will try to make sense of it (I will review what he really said because I really cannot understand [him anymore] because it seems different. Every statement he makes is different. So, I will try to make sense of it),” he said.
Marcos insisted his administration is not keen on amending the political provisions of the 1987 Constitution and only wants to ease the restrictive economic sections of the Charter to lure foreign investments to the country.
Duterte on Tuesday night said the true aim of the ongoing Charter amendments is to extend the term of Marcos.
He said the President, like his father and namesake, the late president Ferdinand E. Marcos, wants to prolong his hold to power.
The former president also said it is very easy to say that the Cha-cha would be limited to economic Charter provisions but no one caan stop lawmakers from amending other provisions, including those pertaining to politics or the terms of office of elected officials.
Duterte has initially criticized the Marcos administration for pushing Charter change through the people’s initiative, which he said was aimed at amending political provisions to extend the term of office of incumbent officials.
He later said he is willing to support Marcos’ Charter amendments provided that it is limited to economic provisions.
In another turn-around, Duterte said he is amenable to amending the provisions on the term of office of elected officials provided that it would not apply to incumbent elected officials.
This is not the first time that Duterte flip-flopped on his criticisms against Marcos and his administration.
He has accused the President of being a “drug addict” and is supposedly included in the watch list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).
In response, Marcos blamed Duterte’s statement on his use of the analgesic and anesthetic drug, Fentanyl, while PDEA denied that Marcos is included in its drug list.
Duterte later challenged Marcos to a drug test at the Rizal Park.
However, in a later interview, he denied that he called Marcos an addict, adding that the President would have him killed if he said that.
He added that he was more likely to say that Marcos is taking drugs such as antibiotics and analgesics.
NOTHING PERSONAL
Marcos, meanwhile, said he does not have any personal issues with Duterte despite the latter’s tirades against him.
He said he knows how to handle and separate personal and work-related issues.
“Like I told you many times before, hindi ako na-me-mersonal. Para sa akin, hindi naman madali, pero nahihiwalay ko iyung trabaho at saka iyung personal. So, I don’t see a problem there (Like I told you many times before, I don’t take things personally. For me, it is not easy, but I can separate what is work and what is persona. So, I don’t see a problem there),” the President said.
Marcos also wished Duterte “many happy returns” for his upcoming 79th birthday on March 28.
“We will, of course, wish him a happy birthday, and many happy returns. At talaga namang that is, alam mo naman tayong mga Pilipino ginagalang natin ‘yung mga very important occasions na ganiyan (We will, of course, wish him a happy birthday, and many happy returns. You know us Filipinos, we respect very important occasions like this),” said the President, adding that there will also be an official greeting from the Office of the President as well as a personal greeting from him since he knows Duterte personally.
