DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 28 January)—“Mr. President, if wala kay gugma ug aspirations sa imohang nasod, resign!” (If you don’t have love nor aspirations for your country, resign!)
Davao City Mayor Sebastian ‘Baste’ Duterte speaks during the Hakbang ng Maisug Leaders Forum at the Grand Men Seng Hotel in Davao City on Sunday (28 January 2024). MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
This was the parting statement of Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte during his 25-minute speech at the Hakbang ng Maisug campaign here Sunday, daring President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to step down from the presidency.
The mayor’s statement brought most people in the crowd at Grand Men Seng Hotel to stand up to cheer and clap. Among those in the crowd were former Cabinet Secretary Leoncio “Jun” Evasco Jr., former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, former executive secretary Vic Romualdez, former NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lorraine Badoy, among others.
The visibly upset Duterte cursed 20 times in his speech during the Davao City-based campaign against alleged bribery in exchange for signatures for a people’s initiative to change the constitution.
He explicitly accused the President as responsible for the “divide among Filipinos” and the divide between the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The city mayor, son of former President Rodrigo Duterte and brother of Vice President Sara Duterte, also called on the current administration to use its powers and authority to “fix and handle things which are broken.”
“Executive ka. … Ambot kung tulog ka or wala ko kabalo” (You are in the executive [branch of government]. … I don’t know if you are asleep or I just don’t know),” Duterte said, apparently referring to Marcos’s denial of the so-called divide in the executive and legislative branches of government.
He said he was hurt with the way Marcos used his power for politicking and dramatics, compared to his father who used his to “eliminate insurgency, especially in Davao City.”
Among those in the crowd during the Hakbang ng Maisug Leaders Forum were (L-R) Atty. Vic Rodriguez, former Executive Secretary of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.; former Cabinet Secretary Leoncio “Jun” Evasco Jr.; former Biliran Representative Glenn Chong; and Representative Isidro Ungab (3rd Dist., Davao City). MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
The city council here declared Davao City as insurgency-free on May 24, 2022, a month and a week before the former president’s term ended.
“You are lazy and you have no compassion,” he told President Marcos.
“If you take on a position but you love yourself more than your country, then this happens,” the younger Duterte said in the vernacular.
The mayor stressed that the bribery-motivated people’s initiative to change the constitution is a “used blueprint” of the president’s father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr., to stay in power.
The people’s initiative was allegedly made to seek signatures to change the Constitution in exchange of bribes as low as P100, but proponents have denied the allegation. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
