Dela Rosa frowns on Marcos disqualification: Critics should just not vote for him
Presidential aspirant and Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Wednesday said he is not in favor of the petition for disqualification filed against former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. saying those who are critical of him should just vote against the former lawmaker.
Dela Rosa, who is running under the Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban), said the fellow presidential candidate should not be deprived of his chances to vie for the presidency through disqualification.
A disqualification complaint has been filed against Marcos before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which stemmed from his criminal conviction in a tax case more than two decades ago.
Marcos’ camp has labeled it a mere “propaganda” and a “nuisance” complaint to derail his presidential bid in the upcoming May 2022 elections.
“Let the law prevail. Kung nakalagay sa batas ay dapat mangibabaw ‘yung batas, sundin natin (If that is what’s in the law, the law should prevail. We should follow it),” Dela Rosa said in an online interview.
“Pero kung tatanungin nyo ako sa aking (But if you ask my) personal opinion, since this is politics, this is in time for politics—‘yung disagreement o ‘yung hate ninyo sa tao dapat doon na lang ipakita sa balota (whatever disagreement or hate that you have against that person, you should just show it through the ballots),” he stressed.
“Sana hindi siya ma-deprive na tumakbo dahil sayang naman ‘yung chance nya—may supporters din ‘yan sa kanyang pagtakbo. Sana doon na lang ipakita sa balota ‘yung inyong disagreement o dislike sa kanya (I hope he doesn’t get deprived of the chance to run—the man also has supporters. You can show your disagreement or dislike at him by voting against him),” he added.
The former Philippine National Police (PP) chief also said it would not look good to “win by default” just because another candidate was disqualified.
“Baka sabihin...winner ka lang by default... without a good fight. Hindi maganda ‘yun di ba? Sana mapagbigyan pa rin (People might say you just won by default, without a good fight. That’s not good right? So I hope he would still be given that chance),” he said.