llutene re[ufies
'Otso lliretso'[ets
President Duterte has unleashed
a blistering rebuke of the .'Otso
Diretso" senatorial slate weeks
before the May polls, saying the
group critical of his administration
will go to hell. '
As he campaiqned for the ad_
ministration bets durino the pDp_
Laban campaign rally-
in
Zam-
boanga City, the presidentsaid
the opposition senatorial bets
led by former Interior and Local
'Government
Secretary Mar Roxas
have done nothing but dish out
criticisms.
"Sinong ipalit mo diyan. .vano
'Otso-..Diretso, papunting irirpyl
erno/" the president said in his
remarks last Sunday, drawinq ao_
plause from the crowd. ,'W;lanq
grnawa yang mga tao na .van
puro criticize,,, he said, addino
the opposition,s alleged 6enchani
to doubt his administration,s
achievements
In the middle of his sDeech. Du_
terte asked for a list oi the btso
Diretso candidates from his staff
and then belitled the
comDe-
tence of the bets, includino
Rox_
as, reelectionist Sen. Bam douino.
Magdalo Rep. Gary Aleiang, forl
mer Solicitor ceneral Fforin Hilbav_
and lawyer Romulo [4acalintal.
He said the administration can_
didates, including former presi-
dential political adviser Francis
Tolentino.and former Interior and
Local Government Rafael Alunan
III, were better qualified to
be-
come senatorc than their rivals.
"Ngayon kung hindi niyo iboto
'yan, ewan ko lanq. IDalit ninvo
dito? Roxas, Alejano,
Aouinb.
Hilbay, lvacalintal. Doon .van sa
amin. Magpunta ,yan doon
sa
Lanao. Ah wala, putulan ko no ulo
mga 'to. Walang kwenta moa-tao.
Wala namang nagawa pira
sa
amrng mga Moro,,, he said.
Duterte slammed Roxas, whom
he defeated in the 2016 oresiden-
tial elections, for his alleqed arro_
gance, saying he.fias inlkelv to
beat his former assistant Chri;o-
pher Go in the senatorial Dolls.
"Mar Roxas. Susmaryosep. Ham_
.Dugero
.,Sahi
man ito,', he said_
ko, tama ka na Mar, yava ka lano.
Ewan ko kung qawain
ninvon-o
senador. Wala na ito. Napakida
ni
niya. Kung .yung kampanya ipi_
naKlta niya ang the best niya, hindi
srya marrlo kay Bonq,,,he added.
The President also ouestioned
Roxas' governrnent record, savino
he has done nothing Oespiie irblOi
ing different Cabinet posts in Dre_
vious administrations.'.Nadaanan
man niya lahat'yan. Tapos Dorma.
Ano ang nagawa niya? Bigyan mo
ako isa. l.4aski isa lanq,,,he said.
He also scoffed at
reelection-
ist Sen. Aqujno, saying he only
shares a resemblance with his
uncle the late Sen. Beniono S.
Aquino Jr. "Ano'bang signi-fikante
na nagawa mo? What have vou
done that
is really imoressive?
Puro kayo oposisyon, puro kavo
saway," he said.
Otso Diretso senatorial candF
dates yesterday reminded Duterte
about their role to oppose the
government,s wrongdoings in re_
sponse to his rant they do nothino
but criticize his administration. -
Human righb lawyer Chel Diokno
told Duterte that he should not be
"onion-skinned'. because their criti-
cism is the "spirit of democracv.,,
Diokno, chairman of the Free
Legal Assistance Group, quot_
ed his father the late Sen. Jose
"Pepe" Diokno, whom . Duterte
sald was nothing like him.
"Let us remember what mv fa-
ther said, 'Yes men are not iom-
patible with democracy. We can
strengthen our leaders by point_
rng out what they are doino that
is wronq,"' he said_
Diokno stressed it is the iob of
the opposition to ,'question; c{iti_
cEe, and give alternatives,. to the
manner the government runs the
country. (Genalyn Kabilina and
Raymund Antonio)
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