• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Distancing himself from the feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, Senator Juan Victor ‘JV’ Ejercito commented on Monday, that the conflict does not give a good signal abroad, especially to investors.
“I feel sad, that this early, the conflict has gone worse,” said Ejercito, who joined the Negros Loop 2024 motorcycle event, aimed at promoting Negros Island tourism. At the same time, he noted that the conflict between the President and Vice President is now being discussed in major news networks abroad.
No matter how we try to market our country to attract investors, to come in and invest in the Philippines, when you have the top 1 and 2 officials fighting, that is political instability, he stressed.
The early political bickering, especially between top two positions in the government, will not help at all, Ejercito said.
Duterte earlier said her feud with President Marcos Jr. had reached a “point of no return” after police filed an assault complaint against her and some of her staff.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) lodged the complaint on Wednesday amid an uproar over remarks where Duterte publicly threatened Marcos by saying he would be assassinated should she be targeted and killed in a plot. Her comments prompted the president to say that he would “fight back.”
Amid mounting calls to file an impeachment complaint against Duterte, a text message of Marcos was circulated on social media, saying such a plan would only distract the government.
Marcos’ leaked private message said “In the larger scheme of things, Sara is unimportant. So please do not file impeachment complaints. It will only distract us from the real work of governance whic(h) is to improve the [lives] of all Filipinos.”
The impeachment process is more political than legal, Ejercito said.
“I don’t want to dip my hands in the political bickering, mudslinging between the top 2 officials, and other government officials,” said Ejercito, who was an independent senatorial candidate during the 2022 elections.
I don’t owe favors from anybody. I am only beholden to the Filipino people, he stressed.
However, Ejercito said he is hoping that there will be compromises between PBBM and VP Sara, noting that the present administration has a lot of things to do.*
