Sen. Marcos skips Leyte sortie, expected to address voters in Waray
Sen. Imee Marcos and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte — Senator Imee Marcos would have been able to address Leyte residents in Waray if only she attended the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas sortie here, her brother President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday.
In his speech at the campaign rally at Tacloban’s Plaza Libertad, President Marcos reiterated his message that candidates from the administration’s slate represent different areas across the Philippines and that they are not only from Metro Manila.
In introducing the hometown of each candidate, the Chief Executive said his and Senator Marcos’ mother, former first lady Imelda Marcos, is a “100 percent Waray.”
“And we can say that we also come from this place. Me and Imee frequently visit Leyte,” he said.
“Only Imee among us siblings was able to speak Waray because I focused more on Ilocos, that’s why I learned Ilocano. Imee, on the other hand, learned to speak Waray, so it’s a pity that she’s not here because she could have given a speech in the local dialect. But she’s been like that, a true Waray, that’s why it’s proper to bring her back to the Senate,” he added.
The President still appeared to endorse her sister’s reelection bid, despite Senator Marcos expressing disappointment with how the current administration allowed the arrest of her friend, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Last Tuesday, after coming home from Hong Kong, Duterte was stopped from leaving the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 as local authorities assisted the International Criminal Police Organization in enforcing an arrest order from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Duterte is facing a case at the ICC in The Hague for the crimes against humanity he allegedly committed during his administration’s drug war.
READ: Rodrigo Duterte now under police custody
After questioning the arrest, Duterte eventually conceded, boarding a chartered plane from Villamor Air Base, which left Manila for the Netherlands a few minutes after 11:00 p.m., Tuesday.
The chartered plane landed in the Hague just minutes after Thursday midnight, Manila time.
READ: Plane carrying Rodrigo Duterte leaves PH for The Hague
Earlier, Senator Marcos apologized to the people of Leyte as she would not be able to attend the rally because she cannot accept what happened to Duterte.
READ: Imee Marcos skips admin sortie: ‘I can’t accept what was done to Duterte’
After Duterte’s arrest, Senator Marcos said she saw a semblance of her family’s fate in Duterte being sent to The Netherlands, referring to the circumstances faced by her and President Marcos’ father, the late former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
Marcos Sr. ruled the Philippines for over 20 years. He was exiled after the 1986 People Power Revolution toppled his dictatorship.
READ: Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest shocks Imee Marcos: We didn’t learn
While in Hong Kong, Duterte addressed talks about the arrest order, saying that his actions during the war on illegal drugs were for the Philippines’ benefit.
However, several official and independent investigations have shown that there were many instances where innocent individuals were dragged into the anti-drug operations.
In August 2017, 17-year-old Kian delos Santos was summarily executed in Caloocan City even if he was not the original target of the operation.
The three police officers involved in the killing of delos Santos were convicted of murder.
READ: 3 policemen guilty of killing Kian delos Santos — court
Marcos recently stepped up the ante in distinguishing Alyansa bets from other senatorial candidates — saying several times that Alyansa’s 12-person slate neither supported the bloody campaign against illegal drugs, nor backed China’s intrusion over the Philippines’ maritime territories.
READ: Marcos on admin slate: They’re not tainted by tokhang, Pogo, pro-China
READ: Marcos: Vote 12-0 for Alyansa if you don’t want PH’s bloody past
