Baste defends sara, slams critics

Davao City Vice Mayor and acting Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte isn’t buying President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s claim that he had nothing to do with Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment woes.

Speaking at the Kadayawan Festival on Friday, Baste made it clear he couldn’t care less about Malacañang’s latest line.

“I don’t really think it matters what he says, because nothing that comes out of his mouth is worth listening to,” he said bluntly.

While in India, Marcos told reporters, “The situation does not involve me.”

The Senate, however, had already voted 19-4-1 to archive the impeachment articles, with only four senators opposing.

For Baste, the matter should have been closed once the Supreme Court ruled on it.

“I just don’t understand why they’re not respecting the en banc decision of the Supreme Court,” he said. “It’s an objective view of the situation because they interpret the law.”

He slammed critics of the ruling as “very subjective,” accusing them of pushing a political agenda against his sister.

“It’s a political scheme; it’s a mere campaign against the Vice President,” he said.

On opposition lawmakers still railing against the Senate decision, Baste shrugged: “It’s okay. It’s democracy. They can say whatever they want. If you don’t have the numbers, you can’t have the cake.”

Away from politics, Baste spoke about recently visiting his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, in his detention in The Hague, Netherlands.

He said the elder Duterte is “okay” mentally but has lost weight and his appetite.

“Like people in detention, you get depressed, you lose your appetite. But cognitively, he’s okay. He’s just old. His body’s okay, but thin,” Baste said in Visayan.

He emphasized that such changes were normal for people deprived of liberty and justice, as he claimed was the case with his father.

“If you are in another country with family and friends, you can eat well. But like any other ordinary person in a detention center without a clear case against you and without due process, how would you feel? That’s what happens to people. What they are doing to him is very unjust,” he said.