President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he does not consider his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte, his political enemy, as he defended the 60-day preventive suspension of Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib.

In a media interview in Washington, Marcos said the Department of the Interior and Local Government had thoroughly investigated the cases against Jubahib before the suspension order was issued.

“I think he is an experienced lawyer. If he wants, I’ll send him all the court records and all the discussions dahil matagal na ‘yan (because this was a long time ago). Some of these cases were filed before I took office, so it’s taken two years because it went through the process,” he said.

In a public forum on Thursday, Duterte criticized the 60-day preventive suspension of Jubahib.

The former president also raised the possibility he and Marcos would be “political rivals” moving forward.

“Hindi ko kalaban si Marcos, pero (Marcos is not my enemy but) along the way, magkakalaban talaga kami (we will really become rivals). We will be political enemies. You cannot remove that kind of situation,” Duterte said.

Marcos said he only learned of the cases against Jubahib a year ago in his daily briefer.

“I’m very sure we did all. We went through all of the checks and balances. We went through all of the proper procedures before we came to a decision before the DILG came to the decision of imposing a suspension,” he said.

“That’s his (Duterte’s) view. I don’t consider him a political enemy. Takes two to tango. I don’t consider him a political enemy,” Marcos added.

BBM willing

Meanwhile, Marcos said he is willing to discuss with Duterte the reported “gentleman’s agreement” what other agreements he may have entered into with China.

He added that he would want to know what was compromised after his predecessor entered into a “gentleman’s agreement” on the Philippines’ claims in the South China Sea.

“What did the Duterte administration promise China? We don’t know that. We just learned about it, so we can now confirm an agreement. They called it a gentleman’s agreement. I call it a secret agreement,” Marcos said in a media interview on the sidelines of his Washington visit on Friday (local time).

He urged the Duterte administration to bring to the table the documents on any agreements with China.

“Send them to me, and then we’ll sit down. Send those documents to me. And then I’ll sit down and discuss it. I’ll do my homework for him. Just the way I work, I read all the materials first, so when I’m in the conference, I can ask intelligent questions,” Marcos said.

He said any agreement with China should not compromise the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, particularly in the West Philippine Sea.

Keeping the peace

Duterte, in a press conference on Thursday night, said he never conceded anything to China as president.

“The only thing I remember was that status quo. That’s the word. There was no movement, no armed patrols there. It was as is, where it is so that we won’t have any trouble. That’s what I could remember. I do not even know the Ayungin Shoal,” Duterte said, affirming his commitment to preserving the peace in the South China Sea.

He said any understanding with China, if it existed, would have been aimed at maintaining stability and preventing the escalation of tensions.