Robredo supporters say Marcos ‘unwelcome’ in Tarlac

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo opposed the scheduled rally of presidential bet Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in the province of Tarlac.

In a statement on Thursday, the Robredo People’s Council – Tarlac said they wish to “strongly oppose the visit” of Marcos scheduled on April 2.

They listed three reasons in raising their opposition: Marcos Jr.’s “failure… to acknowledge the wrong doings committed during Martial Law,” including the killing of a “beloved Tarlacqueno former Senator Ninoy Aquino.”

Aquino’s killing was the pivotal moment in the ouster of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. through the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution.

They also raised the “lies and dishonesty” the presidential bet allegedly continues to peddle, including his academic records.

The group also cited the Marcos family’s failure to pay the estimated P203 billion estate taxes that remain unpaid — an issue that reporters have been trying to get the survey frontrunner to answer in ambush interviews but remains unaddressed.

His spokesperson Vic Rodriguez on March 26 released a misleading statement that the case is still pending in court.

A document from the Supreme Court showed that the 1997 estate tax case that Marcos heirs are supposed to pay has become final and executory on March 9, 1999.

In 1997, the SC ordered Marcos heirs to pay P23 billion, but decades since, the value is estimated to have reached P203 billion, including surcharges, interest and penalties.

“Tarlacquenos are not dishonest. We are not tax evaders and revisionists of history and his visit does not sit well with the peace loving and good citizens of Tarlac,” they added.

“We put forward that Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is a unwelcome guest in the province of Tarlac and strongly oppose his visit on April 2, 2022,” the group also said.

Marcos this week wooed voters in several provinces in Mindanao. On Wednesday, he and the UniTeam held three grand rallies across Davao region and on Thursday, he went to Lanao del Sur.

Philstar.com reached out to his spokesperson Vic Rodriguez and his campaign manager Benhur Abalos Jr. but has yet to receive any reply. This story will be updated once they give a response.