Rodrigo Duterte asks military to 'protect the Constitution' due to 'fractured governance'
Former president Rodrigo Duterte called on the military to "protect the Constitution" due to "fractured governance" amid the word war between his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, and his successor, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.—even as he attacked the latter anew.
“There is a fractured governance sa Pilipinas ngayon. Nobody can correct Marcos, nobody can correct [House Speaker Martin] Romualdez. There is no urgent remedy. It is only the military who can correct it,” Duterte said in a press conference on the night of Nov. 26.
Duterte claimed anew that Marcos is a "drug addict." He last called Marcos a "drug addict" and "bangag" or high on drugs in January, alleging that Marcos is part of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency’s watch list for narcotics—a claim that PDEA has already denied. At the time, Marcos responded by saying Duterte has been taking fentanyl, a highly potent pain reliever and anesthetic, "for a very long time."
He also made the claim against Marcos' special assistant, Antonio Lagdameo Jr, suggesting that the two of them are involved in illegal substances.
Duterte said he's challenging the military, noting it's the "protector of the Constitution."
"Kung protector sila ng Constitution, are they willing to still protect the President, who's a drug addict, for another four years?" he said.
Marcos' predecessor likewise called on the military to give the people the right "to seek redress of grievances." He was referring to Article III Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution, which states that, "No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances."
"Mr. General, sa military... the right of the people to seek redress of grievance, kayo lang ang makabigay niyan ngayon," Duterte said. "The right of information, you protect that right and allow us to use it, and we are seeking redress of the grievance of the abuses of government."
Duterte's statements came on the heels of Sara's expletive-laden rant against Marcos and his kin during a midnight Zoom press conference on Nov. 23 amid a House of Representatives panel's months-long probe into her offices, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and formerly the Department of Education (DepEd), for alleged misuse of funds. She's also being questioned over the OVP and DepEd's confidential funds worth P775 million.
Sara, dropping "P.I." here and there, accused First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos of funneling cash-filled envelopes through the DepEd. She also implied that Romualdez, during a plane ride, told her that the Marcoses were pilfering campaign funds.
What takes the cake is her unequivocal account of contracting a hitman to assassinate Marcos, his wife, and Romualdez if she were killed.
"May kinausap na ako na tao. Sinabi ko sa kanya, 'Pag pinatay ako, patayin mo si BBM, si Liza Araneta, at si Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke,'" Sara said in response to a commenter wishing for her safety. "Nagbilin na ako, Ma’am. 'Pag namatay ako, 'wag ka tumigil hanggang hindi mo mapapatay sila.' And then he said yes."
'Loyal to our country'
Duterte's call on the military came hours after General Romeo Brawner Jr., Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, told his men to "follow the chain of command," declaring that they're "loyal to our country" amid the "myriad of events that transpired in our country" that have "shaken the political environment of our country."
“In the past days, we have seen a myriad of events that transpired in our country and this has shaken the political environment of our country. As soldiers, we should not be shaken by this,” Brawner said during the launch of the 18-Day Campaign to End Violence Against Women 2024 at Camp Aguinaldo.
“That means that we have to follow the chain of command. So we declare we are loyal to our country, we are loyal to our flag, we are loyal to our organization and we are loyal to the Constitution. This also goes to say that we are loyal to the duly constituted authorities, whoever that may be,” he said.
Brawner also reminded the AFP soldiers to "continue to be professional and competent."
“We’ve sworn to continue to uphold the Constitution and we have to keep this in mind so we will not be confused. Our mandate is very clear,” he added.
'No need for loyalty checks'
AFP spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla also said in a press conference that there's no need for loyalty checks.
"Our chief of staff has already stated that he trusts that each soldier will perform his mandate accordingly and remain professional," Padilla said. "Ang aming loyalty is to the flag and to the Constitution. We adhere to the chain of command."
Padilla pointed out that the AFP is a non-partisan organization.
"With all of these things, we respectfully request that we [be] shunned away from political issues," she said.
She also cited the OCTA Research's Tugon ng Masa survey last March, which found that the AFP is one of the most trusted agencies in the country. The survey said 86% of adult Filipinos said they were satisfied with the AFP’s performance while 87% of them said they trusted the country’s military.
"Hindi namin gustong masira ang tiwalang ibinigay ng sambayanang Pilipino sa amin," Padilla said.
She assured the public that the AFP would remain professional amid the issue.
"These are all noise that is going on, and we request that we do not lose focus on the bigger challenge that we are facing ahead," she said, without being specific. "Marami tayong issues na dapat harapin, na hindi dapat gustong malihis ang usapin."
Dutertes vs. Marcoses
The Duterte patriarch's press conference is the latest entry in the catalog of attacks that is the falling out between the two political families that joined forces under the UniTeam banner during the 2022 elections.
Their alliance has had cracks afterward after its landslide victory, with Marcos giving Sara the problem-plagued DepEd portfolio instead of her preferred Department of National Defense.
Since then, it has gathered pace after Marcos' cousin, House Speaker Martin Romualdez, removed deputy speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a former president and ally of the Dutertes.
In October 2023, the Romualdez-led House of Representatives stripped the OVP and DepEd of confidential funds worth P1.23 billion of confidential funds, alongside the agriculture, information and communications technology, and foreign affairs departments. A total of P1.23 billion of confidential funds was then realigned to security agencies in charge of monitoring and protecting the country’s territorial rights in the West Philippine Sea.
The decision to remove the confidential funds was made by a “small committee” tasked by Romualdez to realign budget allocations for 2024.
In early January, Marcos told the International Criminal Court that they may visit the country in light of its investigation into the killings during the Duterte administration's bloody war on drugs. He, however, said he would not “lift a finger” to help in its investigation, which he described as “a threat to our sovereignty.”
The House of Representatives, whose majority supports Marcos, has also pushed for the pro-Duterte network SMNI to be stripped of its license after one of its hosts accused Romualdez of spending P1.8 billion for his travels for 2023.
During a “prayer” rally against charter change in Davao City on Jan. 28—which coincided with Marcos’ “Bagong Pilipinas” rally in Manila—Sara's brother, mayor Baste Duterte, said Marcos is "lazy" and "lacks compassion."
Additionally, Baste accused Marcos of making politics his “first priority instead of opening up new opportunities especially for the lower classes to improve the lives of Filipinos.” He also asked Marcos to resign.
In April, Liza aired her sentiments against Sara, who's already a "bad shot" for her.
Liza said she got hurt when Duterte allegedly laughed at Marcos being called “bangag” during the Davao City rally in January. (It's unclear whether Sara laughed as she was not seen at the event's official livestream on Facebook during that time.)
Since what happened, she admitted ignoring Sara whenever they’re in the same event.
During a speech in Angeles City last June 17, Baste once again criticized Marcos, saying he couldn't comprehend what the administration has been doing. Baste claimed that Marcos wasn't listening to the Filipino people despite the Philippines being a democratic country.
Two days after that, Sara sealed the political divorce between the Dutertes and Marcoses as she resigned from the Marcos cabinet as secretary of DepEd and vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict. She didn't give a reason for her resignation.
Since then, Sara turned hostile toward Marcos.
On Oct. 18, she said Marcos isn't capable of leading the Philippines, and that Filipinos are supposedly "on this road to hell."
She also shared that she warned Sen. Imee Marcos, the presidential sister, that she would personally dig up the body of their father, the late Ferdinand Marcos Sr., and throw it into the West Philippine Sea if the attacks against her didn't stop.
The VP also said she imagined cutting the younger Marcos' head off for supposedly refusing to give his watch to a Philippine Military Academy cadet during a graduation ceremony. She then called their relationship "toxic." (with reports from Pia Lee-Brago, The Philippine STAR)