President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has brushed off the recent accusations hurled at him by his 2022 running mate, now Vice President Sara Duterte, saying that her anger toward him may stem from the legal troubles she is currently facing.
Duterte, who is facing an impeachment trial in the Senate and a grave threats case before a Quezon City Regional Trial Court, made the remarks last week as she appeared for her arraignment.
During a rally attended by her supporters, the vice president accused Marcos of being a “drug addict,” called him shameless and ungrateful to those who voted for him, and urged him to resign from office.
Responding to Duterte’s attacks on him, Marcos said he had heard the accusations but had no response to them.
“I hear about them, but I don't really have a response. She's very angry. I suppose with what's happening to her. And I am the target of that anger or the main target for that anger,” Marcos said in an interview with members of the media in India.
“What can I do? You cannot force anyone to love you,” he added.
Marcos and Duterte ran together under the UniTeam alliance in the 2022 elections, winning the presidential and vice presidential races by wide margins.
