Clarifying her remarks, Vice President Sara Duterte has stated that she never called for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s resignation, but simply responded to public sentiments expressed at a recent event.
“Wala akong sinasabi na dapat mag-resign si BBM,” Duterte told reporters in an ambush interview at The Hague, Netherlands. “Ang sinabi ko lang kahapon, sabi ko kung nananawagan kayo ng ‘BBM resign,’ bigyan niyo ng rason kung bakit yan ang panawagan ninyo sa kanila. And I gave them examples.”
(I never said Marcos should resign. What I said yesterday was that if you call for Marcos to resign, you should provide a reason why. And then I gave examples.)
Duterte was referring to a gathering she attended in The Hague, where supporters of former President Rodrigo Duterte broke into chants of “Marcos resign!” In response, she remarked, “Kayo ang nagsabi niyan, hindi ako ah.”
(You are the ones who said that, not me.)
She then posed a sharp rhetorical question: “Bakit ba kailangan mag-resign? Dahil hindi mo pinapakita sa taumbayan na maayos kang mag-isip at kaya mo ang mamuno.”
(Why should you resign? Because you failed to show the people that you can think clearly and that you can lead.)
The Palace was quick to counter, questioning who would benefit should Marcos step down. Officials also rejected comparisons between the detained former President Duterte and the late Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., pointing out that unlike Duterte, Aquino had no record of crimes against humanity.
The statement came after Duterte suggested that her father, now facing trial at The Hague for his deadly war on drugs, could suffer the same fate as Aquino, who was assassinated at Manila International Airport in 1983—an event that fueled the downfall of the Marcos dictatorship.
Pressed further, Duterte defended her comments as being rooted in historical precedent.
“Nakita naman natin yung nangyari noon. Hindi naman na mabura kung ano yung nangyari sa kasaysayan. Ito ay nagpapakita kung ano yung kapasidad or capacity nila to do these kinds of things, including that extraordinary rendition where they took the former president from Philippine soil and brought him to The Hague,” she said.
(We saw what happened before. History cannot be erased. It shows their capacity to do these kinds of things, including that extraordinary rendition where they took the former president from Philippine soil and brought him to The Hague.)
She clarified that her father remains determined to return to the Philippines. “Those were my fears for the life of my father based on history. Let me be clear that President Duterte wants to go home, wants to go back to the country,” she said.
As tensions escalate between the Duterte and Marcos camps, the Vice President’s remarks have reignited discussions on leadership, accountability, and the enduring shadow of the past on the nation’s political landscape.
