Binay calls Duterte ‘berdugo’ of the poor
UNISAN, Quezon—United Nationalist Alliance standard-bearer Jejomar Binay has called presidential rival Rodrigo Duterte an executioner or “berdugo” of the poor following the Davao City mayor’s remarks on the allegations of corruption against the Vice President and his family.
“Mister berdugo, ako ay prolife at ang aking ginagawa ay para gumanda ang buhay ng mahihirap. Ikaw naman, pumapatay ka ng mahirap,” Binay said in a statement on Friday.
“Pumapatay ka ng walang pakundangan ng mga bata at magkakapatid. Sanay kang pumatay ng mahirap dahil alam mong hindi sila makakalaban sa iyo. Kaya naman hindi ka pumapatay ng mayaman kasi alam mo lalabanan ka nila,” he said.
Binay’s camp said it was saddened that Duterte had once again resorted to derogatory remarks to lambast his family.
UNA spokesperson Rico Quicho was asked on Friday about Binay’s reaction to Duterte’s accusation that the Vice President and his family were mired in corruption scandals.
In an interview after UNA’s campaign sortie here, Quicho said it was unfortunate that Duterte had resorted to accusing Binay of corruption even when the Vice President was yet to be charged in court.
Binay’s wife Dr. Elenita faces graft charges in the Sandiganbayan over allegedly overpriced hospital equipment and office fixtures during her term as Makati City mayor.
His son, dismissed Makati Mayor Junjun, also faces graft and falsification of public document charges for allegedly rigging the procurement for the design and construction of the city hall carpark building.
The Vice President himself was indicted for malversation, graft and falsification of public documents by the Ombudsman, but he is yet to be charged because of his immunity from suit.
Quicho lashed back by citing Duterte’s alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings in Davao City with his purported links to the notorious Davao Death Squad.
“Nakakalungkot kasi panay soundbytes lang naman po si Mayor Duterte. Abugado po sya, alam naman niya na dapat ang mga bagay na ito ay pinatutunayan sa hukuman. Pero mukhang sanay po si Mayor Duterte na kapag meron syang naisip, sya na po mismo ang humuhusga. Pero siguro, tingnan naman po natin na maraming mga kababayan tayo na tahimik lang at di makapagsalita sapagkat niligpit na po sila ng Davao Death Squad,” Quicho said.
In an interview during his campaign sortie in Fairview, Quezon City, on Thursday, Binay said the voting public might regret voting for Duterte once their relatives get killed by his death squad.
READ: Binay: You’ll regret voting for Duterte
He said that as a human rights lawyer, he could not accept Duterte’s style of extrajudicial killing.
Binay made his first public condemnation of Duterte’s stance on the killings following the Davao City mayor’s ascent ahead of him in voters’ preference surveys.
While he has been hailed for his anticrime crusade, Duterte is linked to the Davao Death Squad, an alleged gang of assassins purportedly responsible for the deaths of 1,000 suspected criminals in the city since he became mayor in 1988.
“They say I am the death squad? True, that is true,” Duterte once said in a television interview admitting his ties to the alleged group.
READ: Duterte confirms ‘ties’ with Davao Death Squad
The New York-based Human Rights Watch has expressed concern over Duterte’s support for extrajudicial killings amid a rise in summary executions in Davao City.
The Human Rights Watch in a commentary even called Duterte the “Philippines’ Death Squad Mayor.”
“The Philippine government should take a zero-tolerance approach to any public official who publicly endorses extrajudicial killings as an acceptable means of crime control,” Phelim Kine, HRW deputy Asia director, said in a statement last year. RC
READ: Duterte to rights group: You are all hypocrites
