Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte leveled a blistering attack against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during a Rage Coalition regional gathering in Davao City on Saturday, May 23, questioning what the current administration had actually accomplished.
“This Marcos … what is his achievement? He brought back drugs, brought back criminality, and brought back corruption!” Duterte said in Filipino.
The mayor did not stop there, adding that Marcos was even pushing to extend his time in power — “And that *********, he even wants to extend his term!” — a move he contrasted sharply with how his father governed. According to the younger Duterte, former President Rodrigo Duterte honored the 1987 Constitution and never pursued term extension or charter change.
Duterte also took aim at what he described as the administration’s systematic suppression of political opposition, going so far as to say the country was effectively operating under undeclared martial law.
“You know, Mike [Defensor] is right, this is not even silent martial law; it is martial law without being formally declared,” he said.
On the International Criminal Court, the mayor struck an ambivalent tone. He questioned why his father was the one arrested, but acknowledged — with some dark humor — that there could be an upside to Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa potentially facing the same fate.
“I felt sad, but at the same time somewhat happy because my father will finally have a companion there if ever that happens. It’s a bad joke,” he said in Filipino.
Dela Rosa has been identified as one of the former president’s co-perpetrators in alleged crimes against humanity committed during the war on drugs.
