Sen. Imee Marcos skipped a campaign sortie led by her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. yesterday and criticized the arrest of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte.
“I CANNOT ACCEPT WHAT HAPPENED TO PRRD. I apologize to my Waray kababayans because I won’t be able to join the campaign rally in Tacloban.” Sen. Marcos said in a social media post.
The President together with House Speaker Martin Romualdez led the rally of the administration’s Senate ticket in Tacloban City, Leyte, her family’s bailiwick.
“I am studying the events to enlighten the public and come up with a realistic solution regarding the arrest of the former president,” she added. Marcos is part of the 12-member Senate slate of the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas.
Meanwhile, Former Senate President Manny Villar, his wife Sen. Cynthia Villar, and their son Sen. Mark Villar have come out with statements of support for ex-President Duterte.
Cynthia Villar said she disagreed with the government’s decision to surrender Duterte to the ICC, saying: “We don’t give our former president to foreigners.”
Mark Villar, who served as Duterte’s Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary, posted pictures of himself with the former leader, while recalling their time together and praying for fairness for Duterte.
“Mr. President, I hope that you are in good health and being treated well. I’m sad that your simple wish to be judged by the Filipino people did not reach fruition. I continue to pray that you will be given the fairness and compassion that all Filipinos deserve,” Mark Villar said.
Manny Villar said he had hoped that Duterte could have had “the opportunity to defend himself in our courts under the protection of our country’s rule of law.” “I spent years protecting Filipinos overseas when they were charged abroad. That is why it was painful to see a very good friend, a former President who dedicated himself to public service, a Filipino citizen, being taken and charged by a foreign entity,” he said.