Bato believes Marcos admin, ‘yellows’ team up vs. Duterte allies

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Bato dela Rosa said he feels like members of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration are working with “leftists” and “yellows” to target former President Rodrigo Duterte and his allies.

He added that it pains him to think about this.

“Isipin mo, there seems to be — I really can feel it – that there is an alliance between this government, mga makakaliwa, at mga yellow. Nagkakasama-sama na sila just to pin down the Duterte people so it pains me a lot,” he told reporters in a virtual press conference on Friday.

(Think about it, there seems to be — I really can feel it — that there is an alliance between this government, the leftists, and the yellows. They are coming together just to pin down the Duterte people so it pains me a lot.)

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Asked to elaborate on his pronouncement, dela Rosa gave out certain circumstances that supposedly tie together his gut feel.

“Sinong ginagamit nila para tirahin ‘yung intelligence funds ng Office of the Vice President at Department of Education? ‘Di ba ‘yung mga Makabayan Bloc,” he said.

(Who are they using to house the intelligence funds of OVP and DepEd? Aren’t they the Makabayan Bloc?)

“Sinong ginamit nila para maghanap ng witness na bumaliktad, mag execute ng affidavit laban sa amin ni [former] President Duterte sa International Criminal Court (ICC), e ‘yung attack dog na si [former Sen. Sonny] Trillanes ginamit nila,” he added.

(Who did they use to find a witness and execute an affidavit against us and [former] President Duterte at the International Criminal Court (ICC), it’s the attack dog [former Sen. They used Sonny] Trillanes.)

He likewise named National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director Ricardo de Leon as someone who is actively working with the aforementioned groups against the Dutertes.

Apart from the Makabayan Bloc, Trillanes and De Leon, dela Rosa said he was shocked about Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra regarding the ICC.

Although he emphasized that this is “only” his impression, dela Rosa repeated that there seems to be an alliance between the political groups.

But does dela Rosa think that Marcos, himself, is working together with the “leftists” and the “yellows” to go against Vice President Sara Duterte, former President Duterte, and their allies?

To this, the senator said he is uncertain.“I cannot categorically say na sa kanya nanggagaling ang instruction but people around him are doing that. People around him are doing that, I don’t know if pinapaikutan nila ang pangulo or ang pangulo mismo ang nagbigay ng instructions na ganun ang gagawin — that I cannot definitely say, but sa nao-observe ko lang sa mga pangyayari ay people from his government are working, ganon ang ginagawa,” he explained.

(I cannot categorically say that the instruction comes from him but people around him are doing that. People around him are doing that, I don’t know if they are turning the president around or the president himself gave instructions to do that — that I cannot definitely say, but from what I can observe from the events, people from his government are working, that’s what is being done.)

Dela Rosa’s remarks came in light of an ongoing probe in the lower chamber about Duterte’s brutal drug campaign, extra judicial killings, as well as Philippine offshore gaming operators.