Marcos vs. Dutertes

'Dutertes gang up on Marcos'

DAVAO CITY – Former president Rodrigo Duterte, his sons Sebastian, the mayor of Davao City and his elder brother Rep. Paolo Duterte have all ganged up with President Ferdinand Marcos during a recent prayer rally.

The elder Duterte even accused Marcos as a drug addict while Sebastian demanded the president to resign in front of a roaring crowd of supporters and local government workers.

Sebastian said he was disappointed that the International Criminal Court continues to investigate his father over his deadly war on drugs. He even chided Marcos that Rodrigo allowed the President’s father to be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in November 2016.

While Paolo ranted on the slashed budget his congressional district was allocated despite the controversial P51 billion allocations he got during his father’s administration. Lawmakers now wanted to scrutinize supposed infrastructure projects Paolo’s district.

The Dutertes are also opposing the so-called people’s initiative to amend some economic and other provisions in the 1987 Constitution being pushed by House members.

Destabilization

Rumors of a destabilization plot to unseat Marcos continue despite repeated warnings from the police and military that it will not allow any groups to grab power from the democratic government.

Armed Forces’ chief General Romero Brawner Jr admitted in November that there is a plot by former military officers to topple Marcos. He said he spoke to some of those behind the plot not to involve active soldiers. He warned troops to stay apolitical and not to join the destabilization plot

In November last year, the commanders of the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command based in Davao City and Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City said they stand united with Brawner in preventing any destabilization plot against the Marcos administration.

Lt. Gen. Greg Almerol, chief of the Eastern Mindanao Command, also reminded troops “to remain professional and dedicated to their constitutional mandates and stern duty of protecting the people and the state.” 

Almerol’s statement came a day after the Western Mindanao Command said it had no reports of a destabilization plot in the South. “We have not monitored any persuasion moves within our ranks or any unauthorized movement in our joint operational area. Our significant administrative and operational gains have consistently been progressive. We will not engage in any other activities not congruent to what we have sworn to do,” Almerol said. 

Major Andrew Linao, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command, said Brawner may have been misquoted by the press, saying this destabilization plot had been reported since 2022. “Na-misquote lang siya dito kasi wala naman report sa amin on the ground as far as Western Mindanao Command is concerned. Last year pa yan balita and si CS (Chief of Staff) is just reminding troops,” he told The Mindanao Examiner.

Linao said they have, nonetheless, mounted a counterintelligence operation to monitor security forces in Mindanao. “Anyway, meron naman tayong CI (counterintelligence) that is monitoring our troops, pero so far wala naman threats or destabilization sa AOR (area of responsibility) natin,” he said.

The Western Mindanao Command and the Eastern Mindanao Command are the largest military headquarters in the South which have operational control over the air force and the naval forces and tens of thousands of soldiers.

Who is behind it?

It was unclear what triggered or pushed former military officers and their group to plot the downfall of Marcos, a former Scout Ranger. However, there were reports that Rodrigo had been talking to retired military generals, but he denied involvement in any destabilization plots against Marcos.

The destabilization reports first floated after Marcos cut short the term of the AFP Chief-of-Staff General Bartolome Bacarro, a medal of valor awardee, whom he appointed last year to replace General Andres Centino. Bacarro served only five months and was replaced by retiring Centino in August this year.

Rodrigo, now 78 and could hardly walk unassisted, strongly warned Marcos not to push through with constitutional amendment or end up like his late father - ousted from power. But during his administration, Rodrigo also advocated federalism and even pushed but failed to put up a revolutionary government to address rampant corruption.

He even told the huge crowd that Marcos was allegedly in the narcotic list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. “Noong ako po ay mayor (ng Davao City), pinakitaan ako ng evidence ng PDEA.  Doon sa listahan, nandoon pangalan mo,” Rodrigo said, referring to Marcos.

“Ayaw kong sabihin 'yan kasi magkaibigan tayo. Kung hindi magkaibigan, magkakilala. Eh ikaw eh, pumapasok kayo ng alanganin. Mr. President, baka susunod ka sa dinaanan ng tatay mo, diyan ako takot. Ayaw kong mangyari sa iyo 'yan,” he added.

PDEA

But PDEA has totally denied Rodrigo’s statement and said Marcos was never in its watch list and even released a statement saying: “The Philipine Drug Enforcement Agency categorically states that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr is not it its watch list, contrary to the statement of former president Rodrigo Duterte, claiming that when he was the mayor of Davao, he was shown evidence by PDEA”

“Former president Duterte was mayor of Davao from 1988 to 1998; 2001 to 2010; then 2013 to 2016. PDEA on the other hand was activated only on July 30 2002. When PDEA was activated, it established its National Drug Information System or NDIS, which is still in existence today. The NDIS is this intelligence database of all drug personalities, gathering input from counterparts in both law enforcement and intelligence agencies pursuant to its mandate under Republic Act 9165, or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, PDEA regularly conducts intelligence workshops in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies to update the NDIS.”

“From its Inception in 2002 and up to the present, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr was never in our NDIS. It is worthwhile to note that when the former president (Duterte) took over in 2016, his administration came out with a list, which was then initially called the “narco list,” sometimes referred to as the Dutertet list, and upon continuing validation and revalidation, it became the Interagency Drug Information Database or IDID. The name of President Marcos is also not in the said list. Based on all the foregoing facts the PDEA asserts that President Marcos Jr, is not and was never in its watch list.”

Firing back to Rodrigo, Marcos attributed the accusation to the former president’s use of fentanyl, a potent synthetic piperidine opioid. “I think it’s the fentanyl. Fentanyl is the strongest painkiller you can buy. It is highly addictive and it has very serious side effects and PRRD has been taking the drug for a very long time now,” Marcos told reporters.

According to Marcos, the former president has been taking the painkiller for five to six years. He said that it was bound to have some sort of effect on Duterte. “I hope his doctors take better care of them, hindi pinapabayaan itong mga nagiging problema,” he said.

In November 2021 at the height of the presidential campaign, Duterte, who frequently threw jabs at Marcos, asked how a presidential bet manages to elude arrest for alleged cocaine use.

Marcos and other presidential candidates, submitted themselves to a drug test. Marcos was tested negative for cocaine, crystal meth and marijuana use and submitted the results to the National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philippine National Police.

“I really don’t feel that I am the one being alluded to. In spite of that, I believe it is my inherent duty as an aspiring public official to assure the Filipinos that I am against illegal drugs,” Marcos said then.

ICC

Now, supporters of Marcos - enraged by the Dutertes’ tirades and black propaganda – are urging the government to allow the entry of ICC probers to investigate Rodrigo’s deadly war on drugs.

According to the the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, on January 26, the ICC announced that it had granted the Prosecutor’s request to resume investigation into the “Situation of the Republic of the Philippines.”

The ICC indicated that “following a careful analysis of the materials provided by the Philippines, the Chamber is not satisfied that the Philippines is undertaking relevant investigations that would warrant a deferral of the Court’s investigations”.

Having examined the submissions and materials of the Philippine Government, and of the ICC Prosecutor, as well as the victims’ observations, the Chamber concluded that the various domestic initiatives and proceedings, assessed collectively, do not amount to tangible, concrete and progressive investigative steps in a way that would sufficiently mirror the Court’s investigation.

This conclusion of the ICC mirrors the earlier findings of Investigate Philippine Commission of Inquiry which found that domestic measures were effectively not functioning, and there was no evidence to support the Philippine government’s contention that victims could find justice in the Philippine courts. The judicial system itself was in fact being wielded as an instrument in the Philippine government’s campaign of state terror.

The ICC decision to continue the pursuit of justice lays bare the Marcos Administration’s culpability in shielding the Duterte regime’s policies of impunity and state terror that killed perhaps 30,000 or more, and victimized Filipinos for six long years, according to Peter Murphy, ICHRP Chairperson.

“We are extremely appreciative of the decision of the ICC. It offers a mechanism for victims to continue their pursuit of justice against the Duterte Regime’s brutal war on drugs, on dissent and on the Moro and all indigenous peoples. Justice will still be served despite the Marcos administration’s decision to keep the Philippines outside the jurisdiction of the ICC and cover-up the crimes against humanity committed by the police and the military under Duterte,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)