De Guzman on Marcos Jr.'s calls for public to guard their votes: ‘Tusong tira’

Presidential candidate Leody De Guzman on Saturday labeled his rival Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s calls for the public to guard their May 9 election votes a "cunning move."

"'Yan na 'yung tusong move, tusong tira ni Marcos. Wala na bang mananawagan na huwag magkaroon ng dayaan? Lahat naman ay mananawagan ng fair, honest, clean election. Tama 'yon," De Guzman said in a forum in Quezon City.

(That was a cunning move, a cunning shot by Marcos. Will no one call to avoid cheating in the elections? Everyone will call for a fair, honest, and clean election. That is correct.)

"Pero ang mali, ang sasabihing 'Bantayan natin ang pandaraya.' Siya nga 'yung madaya. 'Yung mga diskarteng 'yan na 'Babantayan natin ang ating boto at hadlangan natin ang pandaraya,' tuso 'yan dahil katulad 'yan ng sinasabing 'Magkaisa tayo. Kalimutan na natin ang mga nakaraan,'" De Guzman said.

(But what is wrong is you will say, "Let us guard against cheating." He is the deceitful one. That strategy of saying, "Let us guard our votes and let us prevent cheating," is cunning because it is just like what he is saying "Let us unite. Let us forget the past.")

"'Yang mga ganiyang tira, ang tawag diyan tusong tira ng isang kandidato," he added.

(Those kinds of remarks, you call that a cunning move from a candidate.)

De Guzman criticized the "unity" platform of Marcos and his running-mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, saying it was an excuse for the Filipino people to forget the alleged atrocities of the Marcos family.

"Sila nga 'yung may kapasidad na madaya. Sila nga ang nagpapakawala ng maraming pera, sila ang nagbayad ng napakaraming trolls. Sila ang mga madayang hindi humaharap sa tao sa mga debate," he said.

(They are the ones who are capable of cheating. They are the ones who release tons of money. They are the ones who pay a lot of trolls. They are the deceitful ones who did not face the people during debates.)

Walden Bello, De Guzman's running-mate, meanwhile said Marcos' call was an "extremely hypocritical statement," claiming that Marcos and Duterte were the ones capable of stealing votes in Eleksyon 2022.

Bello added the machinery of disinformation of the Marcoses had been at work even before the elections.

GMA News Online sought comment from the camp of Marcos, but they had yet to reply as of this posting. — DVM, GMA News