A “political showdown is looming”.
That was the reaction of Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez on Monday, January 29, to the reported call of Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to resign.
Duterte, in his speech before the Hakbang ug Maisug Leaders Forum in Davao City on Sunday, said “Mr. President, if you do not have love or have no aspirations for your country, resign.”
“You are lazy and you lack compassion,” the son of former President Rodrigo Duterte was quoted as saying.
Marcos launched his “Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines)”, which he called a master plan for genuine development that benefits all people, at a kick off rally at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila also on Sunday.
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson, who was unable to attend the launching, said the resignation call was a personal observation of the Davao mayor.
“Many are still also supporting this present administration, in fact we should always give the incumbent administration the opportunity to do service to the Filipino,” Lacson said.
“We should not give the impression that the country is now divided because if that happens, automatic, business opportunities will just close their doors,” he said.
The Bacolod mayor and his son Victorias Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez, Negros Association of Chief Executives president, attended the “Bagong Pilipinas” launching in Manila.
The Victorias mayor said the “Bagong Pilipinas” is a much needed move, which the president said should embody excellence, innovation and progress in the daily routine.
Its theme calls for principled, accountable, and unified institutions, which he agrees with, the Victorias mayor said.
“Our country needs to improve…we really need to find ways to speed up development and it should start from government,” he added.
On the Davao mayor’s call for the president to resign, Javier Benitez said he was surprised, “I didn’t expect it from him”.
“Everyone wants to invest in a stable country, if it is divisive then you can make your own conclusions,” Benitez said.
But in a democracy everyone is free to say what they want to, he added.
“We should give the president a chance, it’s only been a year and half and the expectations are high. We really need to be unified at this point. The president and his entire team are really doing their best to bring development to the country,” he added.
Vice President Sara Duterte in a statement Monday said she has not spoken to her brother about his remarks on the President’s resignation.
“I can only surmise that he is coming from a place of brotherly love, coupled by the common sentiment that I do not deserve the despicable treatment that I am receiving from some sectors within the circle of the President”, she said.*