'SILENCE IS COMPLICITY': Imee urges PBBM to debunk Madriaga's 'lies'

Senator Imee Marcos urged her estranged brother, President Marcos Jr., on Wednesday to speak out against the “sickening lies” of Ramil Madriaga, who alleged that ex-president Rodrigo Duterte arranged a supposed “term-sharing” deal between him and Vice President Sara Duterte ahead of the 2022 polls. 

Senator Marcos argued that the Chief Executive knows full well that there’s “no such thing” as a term-sharing deal, much less one facilitated by then-president Duterte, who had long voiced strong disapproval of the Bongbong-Sara tandem, or the UniTeam alliance, for the 2022 national elections.

She asserted that President Marcos’ silence, despite allegedly being fully aware that Madriaga’s testimony before the House of Representatives, only points to his potential involvement in the ongoing impeachment proceeding against VP Duterte. 

“Bongbong, President Marcos, you know the truth. You are there, we were together. If you did not order this, there is no reason for you not to correct this lie,” Senator Marcos said in a briefing a day after Madriaga testified in the House. “Do not tolerate these politicians who are using this liar Madriaga.”

In his affidavit, Madriaga told a House panel hearing the impeachment case of VP Duterte that then-president Duterte informed him in November 2021 that the Marcos siblings visited him, during which they convinced him to have then-Davao mayor Sara run as VP with Bongbong. 

Madriaga was a self-confessed former aide of the Dutertes. He is currently detained for a kidnapping case, but was allowed to be a key witness in the impeachment case of VP Duterte. 

During the said meeting, Madriaga claimed that the Marcoses and ex-president Duterte reached an agreement that if Bongbong wins as president, he will step down by 2025 to give way for Sara. 

Senator Marcos, however, rejected this as a brazen lie, citing a November 2021 news article that quoted Bongbong dismissing the idea of a presidential term-sharing with Sara.

The opposition senator further argued that Madriaga’s allegations do not add up because their initial plan was to convince Sara to run as Bongbong's presidential running mate, who would slide down to VP. 

“We’re pushing Sara to run as president… why would she even share [the term]?” she pointed out.

Another glaring example of Madriaga’s alleged false testimony, she added, was his claim that he was informed by then-president Duterte one month later that Bongbong would run as president, although it was already publicly known of his intent to seek the highest office upon filing of certificate of candidacy as early as October.

Aside from this, Senator Marcos faced the press armed with a presentation, including screenshots of exchanges between her and VP Duterte, as well as photos from preparations for the 2022 polls, to debunk Madriaga’s accusations that the Dutertes had a hand in the so-called term-sharing, among other issues. 

“That's the truth. Not what Madriaga is saying that my brother and I went to PRRD to arrange a term-sharing deal. There's no such thing. PRRD didn’t know anything about it. That's a lie,” she pointed out.

She also doubled down on her tirades against the administration of her brother, with whom she had a falling out. She expressed regret that she had let herself be an “instrument” of a government whose leadership had caused the country's “downfall” and plunged it into “corruption” and “greed.”

Despite this, she claimed that she will remain impartial as a senator-judge should the impeachment case of VP Duterte reach the Senate for trial. 

VP Duterte has long claimed that the impeachment proceedings against her are politically motivated, aimed at derailing her ambitions to succeed his former ally-turned foe, Marcos Jr. 

She is facing complaints of graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, among others, under the verified impeachment complaint.

Malacañang has since denied President Marcos's involvement in the VP’s impeachment case, despite their widely known bitter falling-out.