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Marcos on PRRD's 'weak leader' remark: It was plain politics

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ABS-CBN News

MANILA - President aspirant Ferdinand &quot;Bongbong&quot; Marcos Jr. responded to President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s tirades against him last year, saying it was &quot;plain politics.&quot; &quot;I think one of the things we have learned about PRRD is that he likes to keep everyone on their toes,&quot; Marcos said in an interview with Ruth Cabral of CNN Philippines. &quot;Ayaw niya yung masyado kang... he&#x27;s always making sure everybody&#x27;s thinking hard about what they&#x27;re doing.&quot; In November 2021, Duterte called Marcos a &quot;spoiled child&quot; and &quot;weak leader&quot;, shortly after the former senator took on the president&#x27;s daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio as his running mate. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/19/21/duterte-on-bongbong-marcos-spoiled-weak-leader">READ: Duterte says daughter Sara&#x27;s running-mate Marcos is &#x27;spoiled, weak leader&#x27;</a></li></ul>&quot;Hindi ako naninira ng tao. Talagang weak kasi spoiled child, only son. Of course he can talk, he delivers English articulate[ly], ang aral kasi kung saan-saan sa labas. Pero kung sabihin mo na may crisis, he’s a weak leader at saka may bagahe siya,&quot; said the Duterte patriarch. However, the remarks appear to have had little effect on Marcos&#x27; campaign, as the former senator went on to become the consistent frontrunner in multiple presidential pre-election surveys. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/06/22/bongbong-maintains-lead-leni-rises-in-march-pulse-asia-survey">READ: Marcos maintains lead, Robredo rises in March Pulse Asia survey</a></li></ul>Since then, Duterte has yet to officially endorse any of the presidential candidates for the 2022 elections. However, a faction of his PDP-LABAN party led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has endorsed Marcos&#x27; bid. The president has also been confirmed to have met with the former senator at least once since November.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/24/22/duterte-bongbong-meeting-held-before-pdp-laban-endorsement">READ: Duterte-Marcos Jr. meeting held before PDP-Laban endorsement, says officials</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/26/22/pdp-laban-faction-uniteam-to-join-forces-in-sorties">READ: PDP-Laban faction, UniTeam to join forces in campaign sorties</a></li></ul>When asked what he felt about the lack of an official endorsement from the president, Marcos said it was good for Duterte to &quot;stay above the fray.&quot; He added that the chief executive would prefer to make sure the elections were clean and transparent.However, the former senator would still welcome a Duterte endorsement. &quot;I mean, of course we would love to have him come and campaign for us, and syempre yun ang pinaka, yun ang pinaka-advantageous,&quot; Marcos said before adding that many people would listen to the president because of his high satisfaction ratings. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/09/22/duterte-keeps-very-good-satisfaction-rating-sws">READ: Duterte keeps &#x27;very good&#x27; net satisfaction rating: SWS</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/04/22/duterte-says-not-backing-any-candidate-except-sara">READ: Duterte says &#x27;not supporting any candidate except daughter&#x27; Sara</a></li></ul>

Presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos adds it is good for the president to 'stay above the fray', though an endorsement would still be welcome.