De Lima: Marcos admin 'breathing room' from Duterte's 'authoritarian regime'

The administration of President Marcos provides a "breathing room" from the "authoritarian regime" of former president Rodrigo Duterte, according to former senator Leila de Lima.

- NILLICENT BAUTISTA

"Under BBM, we are given the opportunity to make use of a democratic space in transition from the authoritarian regime that was Duterte's," De Lima said in her speech before the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at The Manila Hotel on Thursday.

"This is a breathing room from the seven years of nightmare that we thought was all over in 1986 and never to return again. But it did," she added.

In an excerpt of De Lima's speech uploaded by News5, the former senator also said Marcos brought back the normal order.

"For the elite, therefore, Marcos is a blessing. He brought the rent-seeking order back to its favored normal and stable character, where everyone in in the system gets a chance to partake,” she said.

Thousands at EDSA

While the current administration is downplaying the significance of the 1986 People Power Revolt, representatives from various groups vowed to mobilize thousands of people for the commemoration of the bloodless uprising that toppled the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.