VICE President Sara Duterte on Friday called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to resign, accusing him of being a liar and an abusive leader.
Duterte fired her latest broadside at the president during a rally at the Quezon City Hall.
“Let us continue calling for the departure of the problem of our country whose name is Bongbong Marcos. Resign! Leave!” she urged the crowd.
Duterte said she cannot leave or remain silent while Filipinos struggle with floods and provide for their families.
She added that she had personally witnessed what she called Marcos’ abuse.
“You are a liar, you are abusive. He has no debt of gratitude to the Filipino people. He has no debt of gratitude to everyone who went to the polls to put him in office. He has no shame,” Duterte said.
She accused Marcos of being addicted to drugs, and prodded her supporters to continue fighting what she described as abuse and corruption.
“That is what happens when someone is an addict. His thinking no longer goes through reality. Let us continue fighting against the abusive, the addicts and the corrupt,” she said.
Campaign partners under the UniTeam alliance during the 2022 elections, Marcos and Duterte have since become fierce political rivals.
Their families are locked in a power struggle as each side fights for political dominance. The dispute has escalated as Duterte ramps up preparations for a presidential run in 2028. Marcos, meanwhile, who cannot run for a second term, has not announced his choice of a successor, saying he is too focused on running the government and the problems that confront it to think about 2028.
The president’s party, however, has forged a “mega-coalition” with four political parties in a bid to isolate the Duterte camp and build up legislative control.
