The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte fired back at President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday, September 14, calling him “out of touch with reality” and urging him to resign.
The statement came after Marcos addressed Duterte’s accusations of rampant government corruption and systemic abuse by remarking,
“What can I do? You cannot force anyone to love you.”
Spokesperson Atty. Salvador Paolo Panelo Jr. argued that the President trivialized severe national issues by reducing them to personal animosity.
“The fact that President Marcos trivialized Vice President Sara Duterte’s serious accusations of historic corruption and grave abuses in government as the product of her ‘personal’ anger toward him,” Panelo said.
Panelo pushed back against the President’s response, claiming it showed a fundamental lack of empathy for the hardships experienced by the public.
“While millions of Filipinos suffer every day from the incompetence and plunder of this administration and its allies,” Panelo stated, Marcos’ response “only proves that he is out of touch with reality and not fit for office.”
“The country does not need his excuses,” Panelo added. “It needs his resignation.”
This latest exchange follows Duterte’s explicit demand for Marcos to step down during an address to supporters at Elliptical Road in Quezon City on Friday, September 11.
During the rally, the Vice President framed Marcos as an obstacle to national progress and urged the public to keep pressing for his departure.
“Tandaan ninyo, patuloy tayong manawagan ng paglayas ng problema ng ating bayan na ang pangalan ay ‘Bongbong Marcos’,” Duterte said. “Resign! Umalis ka diyan!”
Duterte also accused the administration of lying and abusing its authority, questioning whether Marcos still respected the electorate that brought him to power and stating that she had directly witnessed abuses under his leadership.