Palace Press Officer Claire Castro on Thursday clapped back at Vice President Sara Duterte’s recent tirades against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., stressing that the latter is not afraid of investigations-unlike the previous administration.
Her remarks came in response to Duterte’s statement questioning Marcos’ confidence that the ongoing probe into anomalous flood-control projects would not lead to his doorstep. ‘A person becomes confident when they know that what they’re doing is for the nation and not just for personal gain like some others out there. Let’s not forget that the President has been the key to stopping and preventing corruption,’ said Castro in a Viber message to reporters.
‘That’s our President-brave and confident in his words. He wasn’t afraid to undergo an investigation, something the previous administration never did,’ she continued.
The Palace official also said that those who have wronged the nation are often afraid to answer questions and, worse, are the same ones most vocal in attacking the government despite having no accomplishments of their own.
At a forum held on the same day, Duterte said Marcos should not be too sure that the flood-control probes would not eventually point to him, saying the investigations-which she also questioned-were still ongoing. ‘You will wonder why the President is confident that the scandal and the corruption would not lead to the Office of the President,’ Duterte said at the Pandesal forum at the Kamuning Bakery in Quezon City.
This was her reaction to Marcos’ statement in a media interview on Wednesday, saying he was confident in the investigation because he knows ‘what we did or did not do.’ ‘We’ll follow the evidence. And wherever that leads is not something that we try to direct or influence,’ he also said.
On Sept. 21, tens of thousands of people staged protests in various parts of Metro Manila-coinciding with the anniversary of the declaration of martial law under then-President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in Sept. 1972.