The Palace labeled critics of the honorary degree conferred on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as obstructionists who showed their arrogance.

Politicians and personalities who raised eyebrows when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. received the Honoris Causa degree from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) last week are the usual obstructionists and destabilizers, or those who jump on whatever they see on social media without understanding the real issue,” Palace Press Officer, Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro, said in a video message.

Honoris Causa is a citation given to a person who reached the highest position and made a difference or contribution to a society or nation, according to Castro.

“And this cannot be acquired through traditional education, attending law school, or passing the bar examinations,” she said.

Castro enumerated the notable directives of the President during his tenure, including the order to dismantle the 300-meter floating barrier placed by the China Coast Guard in Scarborough Shoal in September 2023 to block fishermen from entering and fishing in the traditional fishing lagoon.

The Palace spokesperson also included how Marcos recognizes the value of every human life, respects due process and does not abuse power; initiating an investigation into the issue of corruption; ensuring that the country does not lose its supply of crude oil in the midst of the crisis in the Middle East so that businesses in the country are not stopped or derailed.

She also mentioned ensuring the supply of fertilizer so that farmers are not affected; rescuing a compatriot from death row, a sentence imposed by another country; and rescuing 17 OFWs in Qatar in the illegal assembly case and 24 Filipinos detained in Eastern Siberia in Russia.

 “The President was able to do this because of his good relations with the leaders of Qatar and Russia. Those are just some of the things that people have seen the President accomplish, yet others deliberately choose to turn a blind eye,” she said.

Partylist Rep. hit

 In particular, Castro hit Kabataan Partylist Rep. Renee Co, who chided PLM management for awarding a doctorate to Marcos, saying “there is no honor in widespread corruption and criminal negligence.”

Co said PLM honoring Marcos Jr. is not a good example for examinees rigorously studying law just days before the 2027 Bar examinations.

“This is an insult to the hundreds of lawyers, the abogado ng bayan, who studied day in and day out to refine their knowledge of the law and ensure that said knowledge serves the most vulnerable — that is a stark contradiction to Marcos Jr. It is also an insult to the patriotic students of the PLM who were killed under the dictatorship of his father and his own regime,” she said.

Castro hit back and said: “One of those we saw criticizing was Congressman Co, who has not seen anything good done by the President. That is probably their goal, to always be negative about the administration. But this criticism of the PLM’s actions in granting Honoris Causa to the country’s highest leader is just Congressman Co showing his weakness.”

She then panned Co for not having the same accomplishments as President Marcos.

“Definitely, she has not saved a life from a certain death penalty. She is a lawyer, highly educated, but it is wrong to compare this honor to lawyers who are fully educated in law. Because an honoris causa is not a diploma of completing a course. And not all lawyers who are congressmen or congresswomen can be said to be honorable or have sense in their words,” Castro said in Filipino.

“As far as I know, law schools do not teach people to be arrogant and not to belittle people because we lawyers know that slandering others and baseless accusations are not the work of a sane and competent lawyer,” according to Castro.