Ex-Pres. Duterte hits back: Marcos gov’t ‘fell short of expectations’
Former President Rodrigo Duterte at the proclamation rally of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan on Feb. 13, 2025.
MANILA, Philippines — Former President Rodrigo Duterte hit back at his successor, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., saying the latter’s government “fell short of expectations.”
The comment came at the senatorial proclamation rally of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), the party Duterte chairs, at Club Filipino in San Juan City on Thursday.
“Ganito na lang, marami tayong problema. (Let’s put it this way, we have a lot of problems.) I think the Marcos government has fallen short of the expectations,” Duterte said.
“Tignan mo ang Pilipino. Huwag ka magturo diyan sa kalaban mo kasi ako hindi na ako kandidato,” he added.
(Look at the Filipino people. Don’t point at your enemies because I’m no longer a candidate)
READ: PDP proclamation rally of senatorial bets kicks off
At the proclamation rally of his slate of candidates, Marcos took a swipe at Duterte, claiming that the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas had no bets “tainted” by the Duterte administration’s bloody war on drugs or Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos).
READ: Marcos on admin slate: They’re not tainted by tokhang, Pogo, pro-China
Duterte hit Marcos for the price of rice, a key promise in the latter’s presidential campaign in 2022.
“It (rice prices) goes on up and up and nahihirapan ang Pilipino to cope up. Mukhang hindi niya (Marcos) kaya na habulin ‘yung presyo… ‘Yung immediate and urgent need to solve is really itong presyo or the price of rice,” Duterte said.
(It goes on up and up and it’s difficult for the Filipino to cope. It seems he cannot catch up with the price… The immediate and urgent need to solve is the price of rice.)
“‘Pag nasa gobyerno ka, ikaw ‘yung nagdadala, you cannot give promises, panay na lang ang pangako mo and you keep on promising people for so many things,” he added.
(If you’re in government, you’re the one carrying things, you cannot give promises, always giving promises and you keep on promising people for so many things.)
