"That's when you see, in the middle of the night, a dog barking at the fence. If you want to get up, you get up and throw stones at that dog."
This was the response of current Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin to his predecessor, Vic Rodriguez, who remarked that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. need not call for the courtesy resignation of all Cabinet Secretaries, as he believes the core issue lies with the President himself.
"Si Vic Rodriguez, daldal ng daldal lang yan. Do you listen to him? Huh? Why was he taken out of the office wala pa siyang tatlong buwan (Vic Rodriguez just keeps on talking. Do you even listen to him? Huh? Why was he removed from office before even reaching three months?)," Bersamin asked, as he countered Rodriquez's statement.
He lambasted Rodriguez for merely trying to provoke a fight with the Marcos administration, "but no one is taking the bait."
"Gusto niya makipag-away. Wag na. Eh ako, kanchao lang siya eh. Kantsyaw nang kantsyaw (He just wants to pick a fight. Let it go. As for me, he's just teasing—just keeps on taunting)," Bersamin stressed.
Bersamin underscored that the administration will only "respond if it's worth our time."
"We will not do that to him. 'Wag na natin pansinin (Let's just ignore him)," he added.