President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is such a big straight shooter that Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda couldn't help but compare him to the late former president Benigno S. Aquino III.
Adminsitration ally Salceda brought up this comparison during an interview on ANC Headstart Friday morning, Jan. 20, wherein he described Marcos as "too kind".
"I want you (Marcos) to be more mean. Mabait masyado eh (He is too kind)," said Salceda, a member of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD). Lakas-CMD is headed by House Speaker Martin Romualdez, Marcos's cousin and top ally in the legislature.
Regarding Marcos, Salceda said: "In his persona--forget of course the politics and everything--eh mukhang mas dilawan pa kay PNoy (Aquino) to eh (it looks like he's more dilawan than PNoy)."
"What do you mean by that?" asked a confused Karen Davila, host of Headstart.
" his character. It's the way he treats people, the way he...his management style. He is very, actually, di naman (not really) ultra-democratic. He's trying to follow the Constitution almost...he is actually--sobrang mabait (he is too kind), actually," answered Salceda.
"Dilawan" is a play on the Filipino word for yellow, the political color of the Aquino and his supporters.
The word is also closely associated with the Liberal Party (LP)--Aquino's party when he was still alive. Salceda is a former LP stalwart.
Asked by Davila what he meant when he said Marcos should be "more mean", Salceda said: "Stricter."
"Dapat pag may mga ganyan tanggal agad (There should be an immediate firing during such instances)," the Bicolano said. Before Salceda compared Marcos to Aquino, he and Davila were discussing the absurdly high prices of onions in the Philippines.
"Where would you want to see him (Marcos) act on?" the host asked Salceda, to which he answered, "Agriculture of course. Because that's food security."
"Definitely talagang issue yan ng stomago. So kailangan talaga unahin mo yan (Definitely it's an issue about stomachs. So that must really be prioritized)," he said.
Aquino's late mother, Corazon Aquino, was also a former Philippine president. She took over Malacañang in 1986, right after Marcos's late father, president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., was ousted during the peaceful EDSA People Power revolution.