Marcos on admin slate: They’re not tainted by tokhang, Pogo, pro-China

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. makes pitch for administration’s Senate slate during the proclamation rally of Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas in Ilocos Norte on Feb. 11, 2025. SCREENGRAB FROM RTVM.

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday unleashed a salvo of attacks in apparent reference to senatorial aspirants aligned with former President Rodrigo Duterte.

Marcos made such remarks during the proclamation rally of Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas in Ilocos Norte in his most brazen verbal attack against the Duterte clan thus far since their widening rift marked by the resignation of Vice President Sara Duterte in his cabinet.

Marcos said that no one in the administration slate is tainted by the bloody Oplan Tokhang and of corruption during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Tignan niyo po ang record ng ating mga kandidato: Wala sa kanila ang may bahid ng dugo dahil sa Tokhang,” Marcos said.

(Look at the records of our candidates. None of them have been stained with the blood of Tokhang.)

“Wala sa kanila ang kasabwat sa pagbulsa ng sako-sakong pera, pinagsamantalahan ang krisis ng pandemya, pinabayaan ang ating mga kababayan na magkasakit at mamatay,” he added.

(None of them are accomplices in pocketing sacks of money, exploiting the pandemic crisis, and letting our countrymen get sick and die.)

Marcos also noted that none of the senatorial candidates he’s backing are pro-China and pro-Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogo) which he outlawed.

He also made an apparent swipe at the alleged sex abuse of detained Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Apollo Quiboloy.

“Wala sa kanila ang mga pumapalakpak sa Tsina at natutuwa pa kapag tayo ay binobomba ng tubig, tinatamaan ang ating mga Coast Guard, hinaharang ang ating mga mangingisda, ninanakaw ang kanilang mga huli at bukod pa do’n ay inaagaw ang mga isla natin para maging bahagi ng kanilang bansa,” Marcos said.

(None of them claps for China and is even happy whenever we are being water cannoned, our Coast Guard rammed, fishermen blocked, their catches stolen and our islands retaken as their own territory.)

“Wala po sa kanila ang tilang sakristan ng isang bulaang propeta na nasasadlak dahil sa pagyurak sa ating kabataan at ating kababaihan.  Wala sa kanila ang tiga-taguyod ng pugad ng krimen, ng sentro ng paglalapastangan ng mga kababaihan na mga Pogo,” he added.

(None of them acts like the acolyte of a false prophet who is languishing due to his defiling of our youth and women. None of them defends the hotbeds of crime and sexual harassment against women—the Pogos.)

Marcos then made several rhetorical questions pertaining to these issues.

“Tayo ba ay papayag na babalik sa panahong kung kailan gusto ng ating mga liderato na maging probinsya tayo ng Tsina?

(Are we going back to the days when the leadership wants us to be a Chinese province?)

Babalik ba tayo sa nakaraan na ibinubugaw ang ating bayan bilang isang sugalan ng mga dayuhan?  Nais ba nating bumalik sa landas na umaapaw sa dugo ng mga inosenteng mga bata na inagaw sa kanilang mga ina, kinuha sa kanilang mga tahanan, at inagaw ang kanilang kinabukasan?”

(Are we going back to the days when our country was being pimped as a gambling site for foreigners? Are we going back to the days when blood of innocent children, taken from their mothers, overflows, their future stolen?)

Marcos said this will not happen if the government if the administration slate dominates the Senate.

“Walang nagnanais na Pilipino na mabalik tayo sa ganyang klaseng pagpatakbo.  Kaya naman, makakatiyak po kayo na kapag ang ating mga kandidato ay naluklok sa Senado at sila ay nagsimula ng trabaho, asahan po ninyo na sila po ay hindi makikihalo, hindi makikilahok sa ganyang bagay na ating iniwanan na at na ayaw na ayaw balikan,” Marcos said.

(No Filipinos want to return to that kind of rule. So, you are assured that once our candidates are elected in the Senate and they begin their job, rest assured that they will not associate and participate with such kinds of things that we already left behind and will never get back into.)

The administration slate dominates the recent survey conducted by Pulse Asia and Octa Research.

Pulse Asia survey on Monday said 10 of the “Alyansa” slate are “probable winners” who could make it in the “Magic 12” while Octa Research on Tuesday said all of the senatorial candidates endorsed by Marcos have a “probable chance” of making it to the upper chamber.

Alyansa is fielding senators Pia Cayetano, Imee Marcos, Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla, and Francis Tolentino; former senators Vicente Sotto III, Panfilo Lacson, and Manny Pacquiao; House lawmakers Deputy Speaker Camille Villar and ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo; former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos; and Makati City Mayor Abby Binay.