Palace: Duterte meant ‘anyone’ better than Leni

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang yesterday said that President Rodrigo Duterte’s seeming endorsement of dictators only meant that “almost anyone can be better” than Vice President Leni Robredo—his constitutionally-mandated successor.

Duterte on Thursday night said: “If I stop now my crusade against drugs, and if there is no order in this place, Philippines, and corruption will continue, patay yun (we are all dead). I said you’re better off choosing a dictator in the likes of Marcos.”

The president made the remarks less than two weeks after telling Filipinos to “honor the courage and patriotism that Ninoy [Aquino] demonstrated during his struggle” against the Marcos dictatorship.

Duterte has earlier referred to the late dictator, whose regime was marked by human rights abuses and corruption, as “one of the brightest Filipinos.”

PALACE: JUST PRESIDENT’S

PERSONAL BELIEF

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that Duterte’s remark was just a “personal belief the president that almost anyone can be better than the vice president.”

“With all due respect to the vice president, that’s a personal assessment made by the president,” Roque also said yesterday’s press conference.

Duterte has repeatedly taken swipes against Robredo for her supposed incompetence. She brushed aside his comments, saying she “does not want to respond to those statements because they do not help.”

Duterte’s remark came weeks after he has said that he is “tired” and wants to step down, but is worried about his successor.

On August 15, he said that only a successor like former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. or Sen. Francis Escudero would make him leave the office.

Duterte, during his campaign, vowed that if he fails to fulfill his promise to rid the country of drugs and criminality, he will step down and hand the reins of leadership to Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, the dictator’s son and robredo’s rival for the vice presidency.”

Roque, the following day, explained: “If there’s a better leader or if there’s a qualified leader to take over and he has said that Sen. Bongbong Marcos is one of the better qualified leaders to succeed him, if there’s developments and he will win the protest and he becomes vice president, yes, he will make true on his word.” —