Manila, Feb. 23 -- A "hoax" and a "one-man fake news factory," Malacanang said Sunday of former president Rodrigo Duterte's accusation that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is "veering towards a dictatorship."

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin condemned the remarks.

He dismissed the allegations as "baseless" and "ridiculous," pointing out that it is Duterte who is falsely portraying the current administration as a threat to democracy.

"This hoax is another budol (trick), emerging from a one-man fake-news factory," Bersamin said.

"We treat the former president's baseless and ridiculous statements in the same way that Filipinos are dismissive of them: A tall tale from a man prone to lying and to inventing hoaxes," he said.

Bersamin e...