Duterte’s fatigue opens avenues for Marcos as new Philippine president

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is 73, could step down if the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos succeeds in overturning his 2016 vice presidential election defeat, Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque said on August 16, Channel NewsAsia reported. That confirms an earlier Bloomberg News report that stated exactly that.

Duterte’s term officially ends in June 2022, but he has spoken often recently about quitting ahead of time since he was “tired” and “ready to go” over frustration about his failure to tackle illicit drugs and corruption in government.

He, however, said that reason he is staying on for now is that he was not convinced that current Vice President Leni Robredo, who would become his constitutional successor, was up to the job.

“I have nothing against Robredo. She’s a lawyer. You have heard her talk. But I do not think she can improve on anything here,” he was quoted as saying by Bloomberg News.

Duterte makes no secrect that he would rather prefer Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as new president of the Philippines. Marcos ended up narrowly losing to Robredo and is challenging the result. If successful, he could still become vice president and Duterte could then hand over the reign to him.

“While I’m not angry at anybody, my chase against corruption seems to be endless,” he said, adding that his promise to rid the Philippines of illegal drugs within his first six months into his presidency was unlikely to be realised before “the end of my term” in 2022 and could even worsen.

In a statement, Marcos expressed his gratitude to Duterte for showing faith in him, but said the president should finish his term.

“I urge him not to leave the presidency as our people still need him for the betterment of our lives and our country,” Marcos said.