(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday named Vice President Leni Robredo as one of his enemies, and lashed out at others, including the European Parliament.
“Kasi nakita ko mga kalaban ko, gusto akong, si Leni, apurado masyado maging presidente,” he said, drawing laughs from the Filipino community composed mostly of professionals, who met him in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, where he is on a two-day official visit.
The Filipinos, more than 200 of them, had travelled more than five hours from Yangon to meet Duterte.
Duterte’s pronouncement came days after Robredo dished out criticisms about Duterte’s drug war in an almost-six-minute video published by Time.com.
The same video was shown in an event in Vienna, Austria, organized by a nongovernment organization that is against drug wars in general, and which was on the sidelines of a main United Nations event.
Robredo’s move prompted Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez to say he would study filing an impeachment complaint against her, saying she was guilty of betrayal of public trust.
Prior to the showing of the video, Duterte would shrug off insinuations Robredo had anything to do with plans to oust him from the presidency.
During the event, Duterte also lashed out at Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, whom he called an “idiot.”
Trillanes, a vocal critic of Duterte’s war on drugs, is believed responsible for the sudden appearance of Edgar Matobato, who testified in a Senate inquiry last year about the President’s alleged involvement in the killings of criminals in Davao when he was mayor.
During a hearing conducted by the Senate justice committee, Matobato had even testified to personally seeing how only one man managed to dodge gunfire from more than 30 people who were trying to kill him.
The justice committee refused to hear Matobato after several hearings, with the chair Richard Gordon saying he “was damaged goods,” who made “inconsistencies” that were “ridiculous.”
“Tapos ito sila si (Senator Antonio) Trillanes (IV), isa pa ito. You know this guy, he was in the mutiny, naalala ninyo yung sa Makati? Look at this idiot. Nagpamutiny mutiny, yun pala pagdating ng pulis nagsurrender,” Duterte added.
“Be careful. Nakita naman ninyo ang behavior. Medyo ano. Pareho kay (Senator Leila) De Lima,” he said, referring to the senator who is now detained in connection with a drug case filed against her at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court.
The case at Branch 204 stemmed from her alleged involvement in the illegal drug trading in the New Bilibid Prison when she was justice secretary.
She is facing other drug cases in Branches 205 and 206, and disobedience over summons case at the Quezon City Metropolitan Court.
The disobedience to summons case was filed against her after she admitted to telling her alleged bagman Ronnie Dayan to skip House inquiries into the illegal drug trading in the national penitentiary.
“Sabihin niya political prisoner daw siya. Since when? Since when ako nagpakulong ng opposition dyan?…Yan ang pinakatragedy natin. It was the secretary of justice herself running, trafficking drugs,” he said.
Duterte did not also mince words at the European Parliament, who only recently adopted a resolution calling for the release of De Lima, whom they called a “human rights advocate and the highest profile critic of (Duterte’s) antidrug war.”
‘Bakit kayo nakikialam?’
The EP, among others, demanded that the Philippine government put a stop to so-called extrajudicial killings, and called for a halt to proceedings involving the passage of a death penalty law.
“Bakit kayo nakikialam? That’s the problem. The EU Parliament. Basahin mo ang ano nila. Tignan mo proposal nila sa lahat ng addicts, na wala na patayan. Bigayan nalang. Kung shabu, bigyan ng shabu. Kung cocaine, cocaine,” he said.
“Guys, do not impose your culture or your belief in what would be a government in this planet. Do not impose on other countries especially us. Ito paborito nila, itong mga (Association of Southeast Asian) countries, because there’s a death penalty in Indonesia, Malaysia and I’m trying to revive it. As if the other countries of the (European Union), walang death penalty. Itong mga buang na ito. Why are you trying to impose on us? Why don’t you mind your own business?” he added.