Palace: No nice words expected from Baste Duterte to Marcos

Malacañang on Wednesday slammed Davao City Mayor Sebastian ''Baste'' Duterte for calling President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. a liar over his supposed ''offer'' to reconcile with the Duterte camp.

During a press conference, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro stressed that no nice word should be expected from the mayor, a son of former president Rodrigo Duterte, for the President. She also corrected that Marcos did not offer reconciliation but was open to it, clarifying that the two are different things.

''Uang-una, pinapansin pa ba si Mayor Baste Duterte sa kanyang mga sinasabi? Can we expect any nice word from him for the President? Expected na ganyan ang kanyang magiging reaksyon,'' Castro said.

(First of all, Are we still giving attention to what Mayor Baste Duterte is saying? Can we expect any nice word from him for the President? His reaction is expected.)

''Unang-una patungkol sa liar, sino ba talaga ang liar? Ito ba ay patungkol sa sinasabing reconciliation? Sana po napakinggan niyang mabuti kung ano ang bawat salitang nanggaling sa Pangulo. Tinanong po siya ni Mr. Anthony Taberna kung open ba siya for reconciliation, if I am not mistaken, that’s the word, open, right? Not offer, so malaki po ang pagkakaiba ng open for reconciliation at nag -ooffer ng reconciliation,'' she added.

(With regards to the liar, who's the real liar here? Are we referring to reconciliation? I hope he was able to listen well to the statement of the President. Mr. Anthony Taberna asked him if he's open for reconciliation, if I am not mistaken, that's the word, open, right? Not offer. There's a huge difference between open for reconciliation and offered reconciliation.) 

Castro also denounced the mayor for claiming that Marcos’ recent cabinet revamp was merely a smokescreen to remove Menardo Guevarra as solicitor general.

The Palace official told Baste to know the facts first instead of becoming an obstructionist. 

In March, Baste criticized and cursed Marcos after his father was sent to The Hague in The Netherlands to face charges of crimes against humanity in relation to his deadly drug war.

The mayor also said that aside from the President “not being loved by the people,” all he has “is the government resources and [his] term.” —RF, GMA Integrated News