President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday claimed that a male candidate for president in the 2022 elections was a cocaine user.
Duterte, who is known for his deadly war on drugs, did not name the candidate.
“[M]ay presidential candidate na nagcocaine…’yan ‘yung mga anak ng mga mayaman kaya nagtaka ako ano nagawa ng, anong nagawa ng taong yan,” Duterte said in a speech in Mindoro.
Duterte said he did not know why Filipinos were “very crazy” in supporting the unnamed candidate.
“What contribution has he made para sa Pilipinas? ‘Yan ang gusto ko lang tanungin. Hindi naman sa ano, bakit ang Filipino parang lokong loko na supporting, magtanong lang ako sa inyo, ano ang ginawa niyan?” the president said.
The descriptions Duterte threw partly fit former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who comes from a well-known and rich family and is leading the presidential race according to a recent Social Weather Stations survey.
“Bahala kayo sa gusto niyo na tao. Inyo ‘yan…Basta sinasabi ko sa inyo. And he is a very weak leader, ang character except for the name. Ang tatay…pero siya, anong ginawa niya?…If that’s what the Filipino wants go ahead. Basta alam ninyo,” he said.
Bongbong camp: ‘We don’t feel alluded to’
But the camp of Marcos said the president might be referring to another candidate.
“We don’t feel alluded to [it]. We’re just concentrating on [the elections],” Victor Rodriguez, spokesman of Marcos, said in a DZRH TV interview on Friday.
Duterte had lamented the alliance of his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, and Marcos.
Sara is running for vice president under Lakas-CMD. Marcos, her running-mate, is under Partido Federal ng Pilipinas.
“Pero ikaw tanungin kita, alam mo ang rating niya 27-something [percent], sumunod si 17 [percent] si Bongbong. Ngayon bakit ka tatakbo ng bise presidente na alam mo mas lamang ka? Ika nga may view ka na in advance na malakas ka. John Ezekiel J. Hirro