Palace: No legal issue with Marcos appointing Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — There is no legal impediment should President Duterte accept the offer to become the next administration’s anti-drug czar, Malacañang said yesterday.

Acting deputy presidential spokesman Michel Kristian Ablan made this point clear at a press briefing while responding to president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s statement that he is open to the possibility of having Duterte as his “anti-drug czar.”

“There is no legal impediment for a former president to assume an executive position in the executive branch. Actually, he can run but not for president again,” Ablan said.

The Palace official, however, said he believes the President is “looking forward to his retirement.”

“Now, whether President Duterte will accept that, it is really up to him. As far as we know, the President is looking forward to his retirement,” Ablan said.

“But we welcome the news because the President himself said that the fight against drugs still needs to continue,” he said.

Duterte had said he would insist on a continuance of the drug war and vowed to remain active fighting illegal drugs when he becomes a private citizen.

“I hope that... the next administration would maybe (exert) a stronger pressure (against drug syndicates) compared to what I did. The drugs keep on coming back,” he said in a public address early this month.

Duterte also said he would not apologize for his controversial war on drugs amid global condemnation.

“I would say and I would insist, during the tail-end of my administration, that I did the right thing. I won’t back down. No apologies,” he said.

Government data showed that his war on drugs killed around 6,000 drug suspects since he assumed the presidency in 2016. Human rights groups said the number of the dead could be a lot higher.