Escudero: Duterte remarks meant to tell Marcos to rein in Romualdez

For Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero, the strong remarks of former President Rodrigo Duterte against President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. were meant to tell the incumbent chief executive to rein in his first cousin, Speaker Martin Romualdez.

“Sa bagay na ito, ang panawagan ni [dating] Pangulong Duterte, gayon din siguro ako, sasang-ayon ako do'n, is for him to rein in the speaker, for him to rein in not only his political ally, not only his fellow member in the coalition but also his first cousin,” Escudero said in an ANC interview.

(In this instance, the appeal of [former] President Duterte, and mine I guess, I agree with that, is for him to rein in the speaker, for him to rein in not only his political ally, not only his fellow member in the coalition but also his first cousin.)

“I hope he will not simply shrug his shoulders and look the other way as if nothing is happening. Right now, it is only the Speaker being pointed to at this point of time as responsible for it. But at some point, tatamaan, babalingan tulad ng ginawa ni [dating] Pangulong Duterte sa rally, at aabutan na rin sya. Maliban na lamang kung poposisyon nga sya,” he added.

(Right now, it is only the speaker being pointed to at this point of time as responsible for it. But at some point, the focus will be on him [Marcos] just like what [former] President Duterte did during the rally. Except if he will make his position known.)

Escudero warned Marcos that his silence on the issues being thrown against him will always be interpreted as acquiescence.

“I hope he will not remain silent on this issue and nothing simply happened at the risk of creating instability in our country, even perhaps his own administration. I hope that will not happen because that will really be bad for our economy, that will be bad for our people and the poor will only get poorer if that situation should explode,” he said.

Asked if he thinks that Romualdez is more powerful than the president, Escudero did not answer directly but he noted that if the president remains silent, people with less power, less stature, and position will “do things that they want to do.”

He mentioned some instances where Marcos seemingly remained silent, particularly the issue of confidential funds for the Office of Vice President Sara Duterte and the Department of Education, which is also headed by the second highest official of the land.

“It all began, as you have seen, nu’ng nag-propose si Pangulong Marcos ng confidential funds para sa OVP at DepEd. ‘Di ba budget niya ‘yon e. S’ya ang nag-submit ng budget na ‘yon, kakampi naman niya ang speaker, majority coalition ay hawak niya. Pinsan niya pa ang speaker. Bakit tinanggal yon na hindi man lang siya pumapalag o pumoposisyon unless pinayagan niya. Dalawang bagay yon, pinayagan niyang tanggalin, sumang-ayon siyang tanggalin o 'di niya na lang niya pinakialaman at hinayaan na lang ang Kamara at ang Senado na gawin yon,” he said.

(It all began, as you have seen, when President Marcos proposed confidential funds for the OVP and DepEd. That is his budget, right? He was the one who submitted the budget. The speaker was on his side, and so is the majority coalition. The speaker is his cousin. Why were the funds removed without him saying anything, unless he allowed it. Two things - he allowed the removal and agreed with the action, or he just did not lift a finger and allowed the House and Senate to do so.)

“Nu’ng pumosisyon si Vice President Duterte laban sa peace talks o laban sa amnesty, wala ring naging kasagutan o katugunan mula sa Pangulo do’n,” he added.

(When Vice President Duterte made a stand about the peace talks or against the amnesty, the President did not issue a statement regarding that.)

Last week, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III also made the same call for Marcos to control his cousin Romualdez amid the ongoing people's initiative efforts for Charter change which the senators believe was pushed by the top House leader.

The ongoing people's initiative efforts seek to amend the Constitution to allow Congress to jointly vote on other amendments to the Constitution.

'UniTeam'

With the developments over the weekend, Escudero said he believes that the “UniTeam” or the campaign tandem of Marcos and Duterte is 98 to 99% divided.

“Yes, to the tune of 98, 99%,” Escudero said when asked if is seeing a breakdown of the “UniTeam.”

The 1 to 2%, the senator said, remained because the vice president has attended both the Bagong Pilipinas kick-off rally in Manila on Sunday afternoon and the prayer rally on the same day where her father launched serious allegations against Marcos.

“May kaunting tira pa, may naiiwan pa pero….maaanghang na salita ang binitiwan ni Pangulong Duterte, ni Mayor Baste, ni Congressman Pulong sa kanyang presensya na hindi niya naman pinagtanggol ang pangulo at hindi naman niya napigilang magawa or sabihin,” he said.

(There were some criticisms, harsh words uttered by [former] President Duterte, Mayor Baste, Congressman Pulong in her presence but she did not defend the president, nor was she able to stop them from saying those things.)

During the Hakbang ng Maisug Prayer Rally in Davao City Sunday night, the vice president and the former president denounced ongoing efforts of a Charter change via a people's initiative.

Former President Duterte also accused Marcos of being on the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) drug list and called the incumbent chief executive “bangag.”

PDEA however on Monday said Marcos was never on their drug watch list.

The former president also warned Marcos that what happened to his father, Ferdinand Sr.—who was ousted from power in 1986 by the People Power Revolution—might happen to him as well. —KG, GMA Integrated News