TUESDAY MARCH www.malaya.com.

ph
5,2019

'Otso'to Duterte:
Let your candidates
speak for themselves
BY WEI{DELL VIGILIA

OPPOSITION senarorial candidates yesterday

President
hit back at
Duterte, reminding him of ,_t,; .pp",i,l.rt
oemocrac' and.telrng him ro just alJow his -L-L
senatorial candidates"
ro answer tor rhemselves in a public debare
rng them.
instead of defeod_
The."Orso Diretso,' candidares were reactingrre
Durerre\ stale_
rn ra.lly of the administradoriparw. pDp_f_a
3en1s 1 lampargn
iunday rughr ln Zamboanga Ciry, where he
said thi Orso Diretso
d""e noddng bur ciEicize his gor ernment, have
:1"1:11:.
n1 ll,ye
hmeors ro_shou for. and are going to.,hell...
?ccoTpus
nghrs lawyerJose Manuel .,Chel.. DioLo
told Durerte
or.iruman
rhe oppostdont role in a democracl.
'll-eth be teminded of what my father said
that .yes_men, are
nor compadble_with da-o.rr.1. tV" ."n
,o.ngrhen our leaders bi.
pornung out whar they are doing lhar is --^" -,
wroig,,. t. .ui;.
l,rrokno rs aron of former senarorJose
, Diok_io *ho wns am.rno.
tnose.arJested and jail€d during rhe martial
-'tt s rhe law period.
opposirion.s role ro quesdoo. criticize, and
offer alter
narir'res. The Presidenr should nor
be onion_skin,ed. This is rne
essence of democracv.,, he said.
Thl.ong*iy3n candidare said rhe presidenr should
,, also ask
rurrserr wnat tus own senarorial bets have done to
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in the Senate.
eats
"They'te good at making cam-
aign tarpaulins. Ve're not going
> irrke i".pauJ.ins in tlre Senate,
re'te crafting laws that we have
: be dcbate upoo," Diokno said.
Former senatot Manuel "Mar"
i. Roxas II, who lost to Duterte
r tlre presidential race it 2016,
efused to comment on the Presi-
Lent's attacks, saying his track
ecord \r'ill speak for itself
'rvell,I didn't hear him @utene)
av it so I won't comment about
hings that I didn t personally hear
rr see. I'm a candidate who is
tanding on his own ttack recotd,"
re told a tadio interview
Duterte said Roxas has held
everal posts in the Arroyo and
\quino administtat-ions but have
ro*ring to show for it.
Election lawyer Romulo Ma-
calhtal said theit dvals in the Hug
pong ng Pagbabago slate aPPear
to be hiding behind the Presideot
aftet avoiding their challenge for
a debate.
'1X4ry is the President taking uP
*re cudgels for dreir bets? Is *ris a
clear admission that their bets are
afraid of
debates? The President
should not make babies out of his
bets every time issues ate raised
against them," he said.
Macalintal was elated, however,
that the President mentioned the
word "hell" in his tirades against
the oppositioo, sayiog it onlY
means that he still believes in the
teachings of the Cadrolic Chutch.
Former solicitor general Florio
Hilbay disputed the President's
claim that he has done nothing
for the country, rerninding Duterte
that he was one of dre lawYers
wotked fot the'Fhilippiae govern-
ment's victory over China il the
arbitration' case filed befote the
United Nations Arbitral Tribunal.
"rifle've already met each other,
We savr each other the daY that
the ruling on the case came out
and you asked for a briefing I'm
introducing myself again to You
because you seem to have forgot-
ten things including our victorY
in the West PbilipPine Sea case
against China," he said.
Hilbay also said it ls r}e dutY
of the opposition to opPose tle
administration's wtongpoLicies.
'qWe'te still in a derdocncy and
not a dictatorship, right? It's noth-
ing personal, we'te just doing out
jobs," he said.
Rep. Gary Alejano @L, Magda-
lo) said he ahtaYs offers soludons
ard alternatives to policies which
are deuimental to the counttY ald
who the Filipinos whenevet he criti&es
the government, unlike the Presi-
dent who once prcmised to ride a
t apoAr *llAqsa
jet ski in the Vest Pbilippine Sea to
assert t}le county's claim.
"Thereh no sense that leadets
'whose mouths are full of obsceni-
ties and insults even want to be
applauded by the peoPle," he said.
"The May election is not about You
fDurelte) who wants candidates to
iust shui up and bow their heads
to you."
Former Quezon ReP. Lorenzo
"Ein" 'faiada dratked dre Presi-
dent for tagging him a "leftist."
"I always equate Left with being
pro-people. Both my loto (grand-
fathet) and father, Sen. Lorenzo
Tanada andSen. Wigbetto T a.frada,
wete dso tagged as being left dur-
hg Matcos' martial law," he said.
"The tole of the oPPositioo is to
questioo, criticize aod ProPose
rnati.,e solutions that provide
alte
better opportunities to our fellow
Filioiros."
il4arawi civic leader Samira Gu
tc)
toc exptessed her gtatitude to the
President "fot yout recent show of
respect fo! me."
"I know how you tend to be
harsh to your critics, esPeciallY
those who have exPressed dis-
sent to youi Policies and Public
pronouocemeflts, So thank You,
Mr. President, for resPecting mY
womanhood," she said.
Gutoc however asked the Presi-
dent "to afford the same lesPect to
all women, as we celebrate Nation-
al Women's Month this March."
"I know drat You will be a bet-
ter president atd a g4eat fathct to
this nation if you will iust leatn to
temper your words to the occasion
and revisit your anti-Poot policies,"
she said.
Re-electionist Sen. Paolo Benig-
no "Bam" Aquino fV said Duterte
wants the oPPosition to lose so he
can hal€ a Seqate which follows
his every command.
On his legislative actlevem
Aquino said, "$(4rat I fear is
the Ptesident believes in his
who discredit me. But it is easy
know my achievements. It is
a Google search away or you
find it in the Senate website all
my achievements)."
Vice President Leni Robredo
said President Duterte's disparag-
ing remarks against *re opposition
senatorial bets is a "good sign" as
it shows that they are "pickioguC'
in popularity,
She also said it was Dutctte's
"choice" to rant and underestimate
the Otso Diretso senatotial candi-
dates but stressed the oPPosition
slate have track tecotds that vrill
prove that they have done some-
thinggood for the Filipint, pc, 'ple
He said it is a "big lic" to s.Y
Aquino has done as he is orrc of the
most productive among lllc scna
to$. -With Angela l-aPe4fu Lzon