Other people think killing is only solution to problems - Marcos

Metro Manila, Philippines - President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said some people think that the only way to solve problems is through killing Filipinos - seemingly responding to his predecessor’s remarks on how to win the 2025 midterm race.

Marcos spoke at the rally of the “Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas” - the administration’s slate, in Davao del Norte - Duterte’s bailiwick, on Saturday, Feb. 15.

At the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP) proclamation rally on Thursday, former President Rodrigo Duterte jokingly said current senators should be killed for his slate to win.

“Narinig lang natin noong isang araw, wala daw pag-asa – siguro sa kanila wala silang pag-asa kaya papatay na lang sila ng 15 na senador. Eh talagang… Sabagay mahirap naman ‘yung ibang tao ang iniisip lang nila pagka – ang kaisa-isang solusyon sa lahat ng problema ay pumatay pa ng Pilipino. Nakakapagtaka kung bakit ganoon,” said Marcos.

[Translation: We just heard a few days ago. There’s no hope anymore. Maybe there’s no hope for them, that's why they will just kill 15 senators. Well, it’s hard that some people think the only way to solve problems is killing Filipinos. I wonder why]

Marcos once again boasted that none of his candidates had a hand on extrajudicial killings - a remark that previously caught the ire of some PDP candidates including reelectionist Senator Bato dela Rosa, the chief implementer of Duterte’s drug war.

“Mahalaga ang eleksyon na ito dahil sa eleksyon na ito, sa pagboboto ninyo, mamimili po kayo kung tayo ba ay babalik – kung tayo ba ay babalik sa panahon na gusto ng ating mga liderato ay ang Pilipinas magiging probinsya na ng China?…Sana naman, huwag na tayong babalik sa landas na umaapaw na dugo ng mga inosenteng mga bata na inagawan ng kinabukasan dahil sa kanilang pagpapatay,” the president said.

“Hindi na tayo puwedeng ganoon. Huwag tayong papayag na bumalik ang Pilipinas sa panahon ng dilim. Huwag tayong papayag na ang Pilipinas ay babalik sa panahon ng lagim,” he added.

[Translation: This election is important as Filipinos will decide whether they want to go back to the time where leaders would make the Philippines a province of China…I hope we don’t go back to that path anymore - where innocent children are robbed of their future and killed…We can’t be like that anymore. Let us not go back to the era of darkness. Let’s not make it happen - that the Philippines will go back to dark times]

Duterte recently hit the Marcos administration’s supposed failure to cut rice prices and reasserted accusations that the president uses drugs.

READ: Word war between two presidents intensifies, as Duterte calls Marcos “bangag” anew