'You're a crybaby': Duterte slams Marcos for being 'pro-America'

Former President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday night criticized President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. for allegedly being pro-United States, days after Marcos expressed disapproval of Duterte's "gentleman's agreement" with Chinese leader Xi Jinping regarding Ayungin Shoal.

''You are a crybaby, always America, America, America... And you call yourself, you call our place Republic of the Philippines?'' Duterte said of Marcos, who is in Washington DC for a trilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Before leaving for the US on Wednesday, Marcos said he was "horrified" by Duterte's agreement with China, saying it "compromised" the sovereign rights of Filipinos.

In a late-night news conference in Davao City, Duterte said he conceded nothing to China during his administration. He, however, adverted to a status quo in which neither the Philippines nor China would make any move that would disrupt the South China Sea — including the bringing of construction materials to the BRP Sierra Madre.

GMA News Online has reached out to Malacañang for its comment on Duterte's latest remarks but it has yet to respond as of posting time.

Ask Año

Duterte also told Marcos to ask National Security Adviser Eduardo Año regarding the agreement.

''Adviser mo 'yan, Bongbong, tanungin mo kung mayroon bang gentleman's agreement. Ewan ko, ayaw ko mag-insulto eh inumpisahan mo," the former President said.

(He's your adviser, Bongbong, so ask him if there is really a gentleman's agreement. I don't want to throw insults but you started it.)

Año, who headed the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) during the Duterte administration, earlier said there is no document that would prove there was an agreement regarding the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

Challenge to Marcos

In his news briefing, Duterte also challenged Marcos to go to Ayungin Shoal as he is being backed by the US government when it comes to tension in the West Philippine Sea. 

He also criticized Marcos over the Office of the President's 60-day preventive suspension of Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib due to various administrative complaints. He also floated the possibility of him and Marcos being "political enemies" due to Jubahib's suspension.

''Hindi ko kalaban si Marcos, pero along the way, magkakalaban talaga kami. We will be political enemies... You cannot remove that kind of situation," he said.

(Marcos is not my opponent, but along the way we would become rivals.) —KBK, GMA Integrated News