MANILA – Recalling the times when President Rodrigo Duterte’s “whine” and declared he wanted to resign because he is tired, a staunch critic on Wednesday said the chief executive should just do what he says.
“Mukhang pagod ka na Ginoong Duterte. Magpahinga ka na lang,” Senator Leila de Lima said in a statement.
“You cannot end your term fighting, if there is no longer any fight left in you,” she added.
De Lima, one the fiercest critics of Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs, was arrested two years ago and jailed for drug trafficking allegations.
After listening to Duterte’s fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) she said it was “insufferable.”
She opposed the president’s push for the reimposition of death penalty and expressed misgivings about his anti-corruption drive.
“One does not fight corruption by whining, complaining, and crying out to the plunderers to stop their corruption. . . . One does not achieve it by freeing and politically rehabilitating plunderers like the Arroyos and the Marcoses,” De Lima said.
“Corruption does not stop by simply telling the plunderers to stop. Neither is it stopped by reinstating the death penalty. It is stopped by prosecuting and jailing thieves in government, instead of freeing them,” she added.
In separate statements, Senators Sherwin Gatchalian and Francis Tolentino backed the president firm stand on corruption.
“The message is very clear that the President is going to be tough on corruption because he feels, and I also agree with the President, that corruption is also connected to drugs, poor services, and poverty,” Gatchalian said.
“Corruption the root cause of many ills of our society,” he added.
Tolentino said he supports Duterte’s call to Congress to reinstate death penalty.
“I’m in favor. Heinous crimes, drug-related heinous crimes tapos timely ang suggestion ng Pangulo na isama ang plunder,” Tolentino said.
He also acknowledged that the justice system in the country works, but could still use more teeth.
“Functioning naman kaya lang di natatakot ang iba. ‘Di kagaya sa Singapore, Indonesia may death penalty dun,” Tolentino said.
“So baka makita natin na mas takot ang ilan nating kababayan na gumawa ng krimen kung may nakaambang death penalty,” he added. (GMA News)
