LAOAG CITY (UPDATED 9:11 a.m., February 23) — Presidential bet Rodrigo Duterte said if he is elected president and fails to stop criminality in three months, he will resign and give the presidency to Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The tough-talking mayor made the statement during his visit at the Mariano Marcos State University in Batac City on Friday.
“If elected president, give me about three to six months I will get rid of corruption, drugs and criminality,” Duterte said.
However, he admitted that he needs everyone’s cooperation in order to achieve this goal.
“They say my timeline is ambitious, you know if I am already president, in the third month I am sitting there as president and I fail because nobody believes me, I really cannot do it even if you give me 10 years of rule.
“Eh mabuti magsibat na lang kayo, or ako. Kung hindi ko magawa 'yan sa tatlong buwan e 'di ibigay ko na lang kay Bongbong (If I fail in three months, better leave the country or I will step down and give the presidency to Bongbong),” Duterte said.
Duterte added that he has a bond with Bongbong because during the term of President Ferdinand Marcos, Duterte’s father was a member of the cabinet as the secretary of general services.
He described his father as a true “Marcos boy.”
“When Marcos first run for president, all Mindanao governors that time jumped to Liberal Party except two—(former Zamboanga del Sur) Governor (Bienvenido) Ebarle and my father (Vicente Duterte) who stood by Marcos all the way,” Duterte said.
“Speaking of loyalty and friendship, I am proud to say that my father was a close ally of President Marcos until his death,” he added.
Hero's burial
If elected president, Duterte said he will allow the remains of President Marcos to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.
He said President Marcos was still the best president the country has ever had.
“In hindsight now, looking at the horizon of political deludes he was still the best and the brightest. I can say that because I was around (during the Marcos years),” Duterte said.
He also said that his template of governance is Ferdinand Marcos's, usng the military and police in solving criminality.
“He never hesitated really to use the forces of government to get what he really wanted to do to govern the country,” he said.
Duterte described the Philippines as "clean" during the first years of Martial Law.
He also said that he will impose death penalty by hangin for drugs and all serious offenses connected with drugs.
“I have no choice but to do it,” he said.
ERRATUM: In the story published on Feb. 20, 2016, it was mistakenly reported that the former governor of Zamboanga del Sur is Renato Embarle. The former governor's name has been corrected.