President Marcos sends well wishes, prayers to Trump

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos sent his well wishes to former US president Donald Trump and condemned the fatal shooting at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee who will face US President Joe Biden in November, was shot and grazed in the ear while speaking on stage at his rally.

“It is with great relief that we receive the news that former president Donald Trump is fine and well after the attempt to assassinate him. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family,” Marcos said in a post on X yesterday.

Marcos said the Philippines condemns all forms of political violence even as he emphasized the supremacy of the voice of the people. 

“Together with all democracy loving peoples around the world, we condemn all forms of political violence. The voice of the people must always remain supreme,” the President said.

A male attacker was shot and killed by a member of the Secret Service. The incident also left one rally attendee dead and two others critically injured. 

The shooting is being investigated as an assassination attempt, according to reports.

At a forum hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines in April, Marcos stressed the US-Philippines alliance goes “beyond politics.”

 This was after he was asked whether he expects the same “ironclad” commitment from the US should Trump win the presidency in November.

 “I think it would be artful to say that we do not watch closely the political cycle that is ongoing in the United States because, inevitably if there is a change in government, if President Biden is reelected, then we have a fairly solid ground to base our positions on because we have already spoken with him,” Marcos said.

 “I will not deny that we look, certainly, we examine who’s going to be in charge. In case former president Trump is reelected, what will be the changes that will affect us – It’s hard to say, it’s all speculation for now,” he said. 

 “But, I believe what we have agreed with the United States are beyond politics. I think that since they almost rise to treaty agreements, those treaty agreements must be honored. That, I think, puts us on ground,” Marcos said.

Meanwhile, former president Rodrigo Duterte also wished Trump a speedy recovery as he “condemns in the strongest possible terms” the attack, which he described as a “chilling indictment of our times.”

“It is a wake-up call that no one, not even a former president and leading candidate, is safe even in the most powerful nation on earth,” Duterte said in a statement.

“The failed assassination comes at a crucial time when the election for the next president of the United States is barely four months away. Speculation that this violent incident has something to do with the upcoming elections is too difficult to resist,” the former president added.

Duterte said many countries, including the Philippines, will be affected by the outcome of the US elections and the sizable lead of Trump in the presidential race has become a “cause for concern to those opposed to his announced priorities.”

“American policies under the Biden administration towards the Philippines particularly the installation of a missile system in Ilocos Norte have placed the Philippines in considerable danger. It has generated no small amount of fear among Filipinos wary that the country has now become a target if war breaks out anytime,” he said. — Diana Lhyd Suelto