• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson yesterday called on local officials in Negros Occidental to avoid taking sides in the feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte.
Instead, he asked them to focus on their work to help improve the economic conditions in their respective communities, stressing that taking sides will not do good for the country.
On Monday, the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said it is looking into the veracity of Duterte’s pronouncement that she hired a hitman to assassinate the President, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez should the alleged plot to kill her were to succeed.
In a statement, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP)-Negros Occidental extended its unwavering support to Marcos in the face of the recent threats against him, his spouse, and the House Speaker.
“At this critical juncture, the President’s leadership is more vital than ever in safeguarding the democratic values and security of our country,” Fifth District Board Member Anthony Dennis Occeño, the PFP provincial chairman, said.
He added: “We stand firm with the President as he confronts these threats and continues to uphold the rule of law. It is crucial that, as a nation, we remain united in support of the government’s efforts to combat any form of violence that undermines the stability of our nation”.
Lacson said that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has already issued a statement that they will use the law to deal with it.
“In the way that VP Sara spoke, it is very typical Duterte. The ‘PI’ word is very common. I think that’s how they are, when they are emotional,” the governor said.
Lacson, however, said that the threat addressed to the three individuals is different. “Definitely, the government will not just take this sitting down, and they will go ahead, and investigate, find out, who is this individual that was given an instruction by VP Sara. Let the law proceed, and we just have to wait, what the DOJ finds out,” he added.
Lacson said he agrees with the observations that the feud between top government officials will create political and economic instability in the country, if everybody focuses on it.
“If we will just continue to work with our respective communities, we will be okay,” he added. | GB
