President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte lead the Basic Education Report 2024 at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City on January 25, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File
MANILA — Malacañang on Tuesday took a swipe at Vice President Sara Duterte’s newly appointed spokesman over statements criticizing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and calling for his resignation.
Atty. Paolo Panelo earlier called Marcos Jr. “out of touch with reality and not fit for office”, accusing him of "trivializing" Duterte’s accusations of “historic corruption and grave abuses in government as the product of her ‘personal’ anger toward him”.
“The country does not need his excuses. It needs his resignation,” Panelo said in a statement.
'You cannot force anyone to love you': Marcos says he is 'main target' of Duterte's anger
“Kapag sinabi po natin kasi na sinabi nilang out of touch with reality ang Pangulo noong sinabi po niya, what can I do, you cannot force anyone to love you, nagre-refer po ito sa personal anger ng Bise Presidente na sa pananaw ng Pangulo ay siya iyong target, hindi po ito patungkol sa mga diumanong problema ng gobyerno,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing Tuesday, September 15.
“So, definitely, the demand for the President to resign, without any legal basis and in order to put in place the principal of the Spokesperson is definitely, absolutely delusional,” she added.
The Palace official argued that it takes skill, knowledge and readiness to lead the country and not by ambition alone.
“Hindi sapat ang ambisyon para mamuno, kailangan ang kakayahan, sapat na kaalaman at kahandaan sa mga mabibigat na usapin ng bansa. Lalung-lalo na iyong mga strategic initiatives tulad ng West Philippine Sea at ng Pax Silica,” she said.
“So, madaling magbintang, madaling magsabi na walang nagagawa ang isang Pangulo, dahil mismo ang nagsasabi nito ay walang nagiging trabaho. Kaya hindi nila nakikita kung gaano kabigat ang mga gawain ng Pangulo at kung paano magtrabaho ang Pangulo. So, sa mga taong hindi nagtatrabaho, hindi nila nakikita ang taong tunay na nagtatrabaho,” Castro added.
Asked for her thoughts on Panelo as her "counterpart," Castro said she will respond to baseless and unfounded criticisms as part of her mandate.
“I will just make a response to all allegations that maybe given without any basis and that is my job, that is my mandate, to refute all the fake news and all the misinformation that maybe coming from critics or from the Duterte supporters like him,” she said.
Duterte names Paolo Panelo as spokesman
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