Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
— United State 40th president Ronald Reagan

DAVAO CITY, Davao del Sur — Amidst the celebration of the 39th anniversary of the EDSA People's Power Revolution made controversial by the order of President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (PBBM) relegating the erstwhile date as a regular holiday to just a special working holiday, Davao City mayor Sebastian 'Baste' Duterte warned Filipinos of another Marcos dictatorship with the looming threat of authoritarian rule.km

In a statement criticizing PBBM's decision to declare February 25 as a special working holiday, the youngest son of former president Rodrigo 'Rody' Duterte (FPRRD) told the citizenry to “remain vigilant, especially now when the threat of authoritarian rule once again looms over our nation.”

"Let us honor its legacy by ensuring that history is never distorted, our rights are never trampled upon and our democracy remains intact for future generations. May the darkest times in our history never happen again,” the mayor pointed out.

With the collapse of the UniTeam alliance of the President and Vice President 'Inday' Sara Duterte-Carpio, the Duterte and Marcos families have been at loggerheads with the conflict resulting, observers said, with an impeachment complaint being filed against FPRRD's daughter for alleged irregularities in the spending of her intelligence and confidential funds.

Mayor Duterte bemoaned that the martial law declared in 1972 by PBBM's father, the late dictator Ferdinand Edralin Marcos Sr., “left a dark legacy, (as) countless lives were lost, freedoms were stripped away and power was concentrated in the hands of a few.

This is what, the younger Duterte and even his father is warning about, stressing that the son could follow his father's direction to perpetuate his position in power and the Marcoses continued influence and control over the lives of the more than 110 million Filipinos.

However, the Dutertes do not come clean in this affair as the International Criminal Court (ICC) is probing the former President Duterte over alleged crimes against humanity committed during the bloody war on drugs he initiated during his term in office as chief executive.

It is not surprising that the two political clans are now at each other's throats as the Dutertes benefitted from the 1986 ouster of Marcos, as Duterte was appointed officer-in-charge vice mayor of Davao City by then president Corazon 'Cory' Aquino.

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