Marcos: No grudge vs ex-president Duterte

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he harbors no resentment against former president Rodrigo Duterte despite his latest diatribes.

Speaking to the Philippine media delegation here on Wednesday, the President said he knows how to handle personal issues.

“I don’t make it personal. For me, it’s not easy, but I can separate work and personal life. So, I don’t see a problem there,” Marcos said.

He even extended birthday greetings to Duterte, who will turn 79 years old on March 28.

“We will, of course, wish him a happy birthday, and many happy returns. Us Filipinos, we really respect important occasions like that,” the President said.

During a vigil in support of Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in Manila on Wednesday, Duterte slammed the Marcos administration’s initiatives for Charter change, as well as his foreign travels, calling them sightseeing trips.

Marcos, who is on a two-country swing in Central Europe, was quick to show his schedule and said his busy schedule prevents him from going on sightseeing.

“Where is the sightseeing there? This is my schedule for today. Where’s the pasyal (sightseeing)? There’s none,” he said.

Marcos said he does not have time to see the sights. “Even in the places that I know, where I have spent a lot of time with, I am not able to visit the places I used to frequent because we’re here to do this.”

In Germany, Marcos secured investment pledges worth $4 billion or P220 billion covered by eight different types of agreements, three letters of intent (LOI), two memoranda of agreement, and three memoranda of understanding (MoU), covering various sectors.

Since assuming the presidency in June 2022, the President has gone abroad 19 times.

Marcos said Duterte’s conflicting remarks about Cha-cha are confusing since, just last month, the former president expressed support for the push to amend the economic restrictions in the Constitution.