VP Sara denies call for Marcos to resign

Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday refuted claims that she called for President Ferdinand Marcos to resign from his post, claiming the call came from the people. 

“Wala akong sinasabi ns dapat mag-resign si BBM. Ang sinabi ko lang kahapon, sabi ko kung nananawagan kayo ng 'BBM resign,' bigyan niyo ng rason kung bakit yan ang panawagan ninyo sa kanila. And I gave them examples,” Duterte said in an ambush interview at The Hague, Netherlands.

(I never said Marcos should resign. What I said yesterday if you call for Marcos to resign, you should give a reason why. And then I gave examples.)

Duterte was referring to the gathering she attended at The Hague, where supporters of former president Rodrigo Duterte chanted “Marcos resign!” to which she responded, “Kayo ang nagsabi niyan, hindi ako ah (you are the ones who said that, not me).”

“Bakit ba kailangan mag-resign? Dahil hindi mo pinapakita sa taumbayan na maayos kang mag isip at kaya mo ang mamuno,” the Vice President added.

(Why should you resign? It's because you failed to show the people that you can think clearly and that you can lead.)

Responding to Duterte, Malacañang asked who will benefit once the President resigns from post.

Malacañang also said it would be far-fetched to compare the elder Duterte to the late Senator Benigno ''Ninoy'' Aquino Jr., noting that the latter has no record of crimes against humanity.

This came after Sara said her father might suffer the same fate as the late senator if he were to go back to the Philippines.

Aquino was assassinated at the Manila International Airport, now named in his honor, on August 21, 1983. The former senator was a staunch critic of the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Also on Tuesday, Sara said she based her claims on past events.

“Nakita naman natin yung nangyari noon. Hindi naman na mabura kung ano yung nangyari sa kaysaysayan. Ito ay nagpapakita kung ano yung kapasidad or capacity nila to do these kinds of things, including that extraordinary rendition where they took the former president from Philippine soil and brought him to The Hague,” Sara said.

(We witnessed what happened before. The events in history cannot be erased. It shows their capacity to commit these kinds of things, including that extraordinary rendition where they took the former president from Philippine soil and brought him to The Hague.)

“Those were my fears for the life of my father based on history. Let me be clear that President Duterte wants to go home, wants to go back to the country,” she added.

Earlier this month, the elder Duterte was arrested and flown to The Hague for his alleged crimes against humanity in connection with his administration’s deadly war on drugs. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News