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Jean Mangaluz - Philstar.com
May 28, 2025 | 11:17am
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the side of the 46th ASEAN Summit at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on May 26, 2025.
Presidential Communications Office via Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. rejected calls from critics for him to resign, asking, “Why would I do that?”
Marcos recently made headlines after asking all of his Cabinet secretaries to tender their resignations in response to the administration slate’s poor showing in the 2025 midterm elections. However, critics, particularly those allied with former president Rodrigo Duterte, argued that the problem lies not with the Cabinet, but with the president himself.
“Ba’t ko gagawin ‘yun? At wala sa ugali ko ‘yung tinatakbuhan ang problema. So, what good will that do?” Marcos said during a media interview in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
(Why would I do that? And it is not in my personality to run from problems. So, what good will that do?)
Criticism of Marcos from Duterte allies intensified following former president Rodrigo Duterte’s arrest and turnover to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Sen. Bong Go, a close Duterte ally, said Marcos must first bring Duterte back from The Hague before any talk of reconciliation.
On the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, Marcos addressed the ongoing political rift with the Duterte clan.
He told Filipino reporters that while he is open to reconciliation, he will not accept terms dictated by the Davao-based political family. If someone was sincere about reconciliation, they would get to the root of the problem and figure out how to remove it.
“Pero ‘yung sasabihin mo, ‘hindi ako makikipag-usap hanggang ibigay mo sa akin ito, ito, ito, ito,’ eh walang pupuntahan ‘yan. Tapos na, tapos na. That's not reconciliation. That's not even a – that’s not even a negotiation. That's demanding,” Marcos said.
(But if you say, ‘I will not talk to you unless this, this, this, this’ that will not go anywhere. It’s done, it’s done. That's not even a – that’s not even a negotiation. That's demanding.)
Apart from Rodrigo’s ICC arrest, the Dutertes’ tirades against Marcos also stem from the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, a move that Marcos has distanced himself from, as it was up to members of Congress to carry out the process.
