President Rodrigo Duterte is willing to give his successor, president-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., pieces of advice, Malacañang said Friday.
This, after Marcos broached the idea of appointing Duterte as head of his administration’s anti-narcotics campaign.
Duterte is ready to help the incoming administration, in case Marcos asks for his guidance, acting presidential spokesperson and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in an interview with One Balita Pilipinas.
“Handa na ang Presidenteng mag-retire. On the other hand, sinabi niya rin na kung kailangan ng susunod na Pangulo ng kaniyang advice ay nandoon naman siya para tumulong (The President is now ready to retire. On the other hand, he also said he is there to help if the next President needs his advice),” he said.
Marcos on Thursday said he was open to tapping Duterte as his drug czar if the outgoing president “wants to.”
Marcos issued the statement as he bared that Duterte, during one of their conversations before the May 9 elections, had asked him to continue the war on illegal drugs.
He has yet to formally ask Duterte to lead the fight against illegal drugs under the next administration.
Andanar said he would ask Duterte for reaction when they meet on Monday (May 30).
“Gusto ko ring malaman kung ano ang magiging reaksyon ni Presidente Duterte. Meron kaming last, full Cabinet meeting ngayon darating na Lunes at siguro mapaguusapan ‘yun doon. Tignan natin (I also want to know President Duterte’s reaction. We will have a last, full Cabinet meeting this coming Monday, and perhaps, we would talk about that. Let’s see),” he said.
Marcos earlier vowed to continue the drug war and sought to go after the big-time drug dealers.
The latest Real Numbers data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency bared that as of March 2022, a total of 14,888 high-value targets have been arrested since Duterte launched the drug war in July 2016.
The conduct of 233,356 anti-drug operations nationwide led to the arrest of 336,796 persons and the deaths of 6,241 drug suspects. (PNA)
