MANILA, Philippines — An official of the previous administration floated the possibility of the country’s top positions to be held by Vice President Sara Duterte and her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte in 2028.
During the last day of the weeklong Laban Kasama ang Bayan prayer rally at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila last Tuesday, former chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo asked the crowd who the next president in 2028 would be.
The crowd chanted: “Inday Sara Duterte!”
Panelo then told the crowd that the answer to his first question should be the same as his second question: “Who will replace Inday Sara as vice president in 2028?”
The crowd again shouted: “Duterte!”
After asking in jest which Duterte they were referring to, Panelo declared they should be referring to the older Duterte with the nickname “Digong.”
The former president was also present at the rally.
Panelo said he proposed a Duterte-Duterte tandem in the 2022 election, which the father and daughter “declined” due todelicadeza.
With alleged corruption and abuse of power committed by the current administration, Panelo asserted that the younger Duterte should run as president and her father, who was president from 2016 to 2022, as vice president in 2028.
“That’s why in 2028, Mayor Digong is still strong, so I told him that now is the chance that you father and daughter hold power and become president and vice president,” Panelo said.
The prayer rally was organized by members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) founded by its embattled pastor Apollo Quiboloy, who is linked to the Dutertes and has been accused of various offenses in the Philippines and in the United States.
Complaints
At the same prayer rally attended by key figures and Duterte family supporters who want President Marcos to resign, the Vice President enjoined the public to raise their complaints before the President himself.
The younger Duterte appeared last Tuesday evening on the seventh and last day of the event, where she was cheered by supporters opposing the investigations being levied against Quiboloy and his network Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI).
The rally was also attended by hundreds of others calling for Marcos’ resignation, singing songs about the Marcos administration’s “unfulfilled promises,” including P20 per kilo rice.
“I’m here to thank all members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, personnel of SMNI and all supporters of Pastor Quiboloy. We thank you for all your support for the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education… Let us all pray for truth and justice for all,” the younger Duterte said in an interview with SMNI on the sidelines of the event.
Asked how she felt about sentiments that two years of the Marcos administration had not amounted to much change, Duterte said that she was glad that people were organizing rallies to voice out their feelings.
“(Their complaints) are something they should raise with the President. All complaints can be talked about with diplomacy, and I’m happy because the supporters of Pastor Quiboloy, members of KOJC and personnel of SMNI, hold rallies like this so that they can express what they feel and exercise freedom of speech and religion,” she added.
Duterte also stressed that she would continue working as Vice President and education secretary amid calls for her to replace Marcos – and even with “mounting” black propaganda against her.
“I grew up in politics, that’s why I know that black propaganda is part of a politician’s journey. They have this script that they keep replicating. They want to brand me as a corrupt, abusive, traitorous murderer of a warlord,” she said.
“I’ve seen black propaganda against my father and countless politicians. So I’m not really surprised with this demolition job against me,” she added.
While the rally was attended by Marcos’ detractors, the Vice President maintained that she only appeared at the event to show support and gratitude toward Quiboloy, KOJC and SMNI.
Avoid bloody incidents’
Meanwhile, the elder Duterte urged supporters to “avoid bloody incidents” as public unrest increased over the proposed economic changes in the Constitution being pushed by Congress.
The former president also told the crowd to ensure that their gatherings are peaceful.
“Pakiusap ko lang sa inyo, let us make this rally peaceful as much as possible,” he said.
He also urged them not to storm Malacañang to prevent the destruction of the country’s national treasures.
“Dito lang muna tayo. Let us not go into the seat of the governing power, kasi doon may mga national treasure,” Duterte said.
“Before, in the time of Marcos (Sr.), maraming nasira. Hindi man kanila yun. Sa ating Pilipino yun. ’Yang lahat sa Malacañang, lahat ng makita mo ay kayamanan ng Pilipino,” he added, alluding to the first People Power revolution in 1986, when the crowd stormed into the Palace and looted some of its treasures after the Marcos family left in haste and fled to the United States.
The former president also asked his supporters not to alienate the police and the military.
While Duterte urged his supporters to avoid bloody incidents, he also asked them not to allow any changes to the Constitution to happen.
The former president lambasted the proposed economic amendments to the Constitution, saying that it is just a guise to change the current presidential form of government to parliamentary, specifically tailored to extend terms.
He told the crowd that any changes to the Constitution would affect not just them, but also their grandchildren and their grandchildren’s children.
Duterte likened President Marcos’ move to that of his father, who was the first to amend the Constitution to allow him to extend his term. – Neil Jayson Servallos, Diana Lhyd Suelto