Malacañang mocked the visit of some Otso Diretso senatorial candidates in Masinloc, Zambales, calling it a “pure publicity stunt” which the “media is playing it up.”
According to Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo, they “look at this cheap political propaganda as another dramatic opportunity to lambast the Duterte Administration’s foreign policy on China in full view of the cameras with the consequent free media mileage.”
Panelo also taunted the group’s move saying Otso Diretso must be commended for their creativity and for not running out of “childish gimmickry.”
“Lest they forget however, it is during the previous Administration which they want to be identified with, when we lost the disputed area in the South China Sea. It was also during their time that the Filipino fishermen, whom they said they are fighting for, were denied access to the same area around the shoal in 2012,” Panelo said in a statement.
The Palace spokesman continued, “we wish them luck in their pretended patriotism.”
“Hopefully soon they will be struck with the lightning of enlightenment and the the thunder of logical reasoning that they may tread the path of genuine nationalism,” Panelo added.
