RODY A ‘ONE-MAN FAKE NEWS’ FACTORY — MALACAÑANG

A “ONE-MAN FAKE NEWS FACTORY.’

This is how Malacañang described former President Rodrigo Duterte after the latter accused his successor, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., of plotting to declare martial law, so he could stay in power beyond his term.

“We treat the former president’s baseless and ridiculous statements in the same way that Filipinos are dismissive of them: A tall tale from a man prone to lying and to inventing hoaxes,” Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, in a statement on Sunday, said.

“This hoax is another ‘budol’ emerging from a one-man fake-news factory,” the statement further read.

Malacañang reassured Filipinos that President Marcos harbors no such thoughts.

“As our actions have consistently demonstrated, we will stay the course in upholding the Constitution, in adhering to the rule of law, and in respecting the rights of the people,” Bersamin said.

“We will not backslide into the oppressive ways of the previous administration, when critics were jailed upon trumped-up charges and when kill orders were publicly issued with glee and obeyed blindly,” the Palace official added.

In a speech delivered Saturday in Mandaue City, Duterte claimed that Marcos might go toward the authoritarian route like his late father and namesake by imposing martial law.

 “Mr. Marcos is veering towards a dictatorship. I bet he will not step down after his term. It will be just like his father’s time. He will impose martial law,” Duterte was quoted as saying in a mix of English and Bisaya.

However, it can be recalled that on May 23, 2017, at the start of the Marawi siege,  Duterte issued Proclamation No. 216, placing the whole island of Mindanao under martial law.

The Duterte administration was also accused of alleged violations of human rights in connection with his bloody war on drugs.