‘Be wary of leader who lies’

Senator Antonio Trillanes. NOY MORCOSO/INQUIRER.net

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV yesterday called on Filipinos to be discerning about a leader who repeatedly breaks his word, even as he noted how President Duterte has several times failed to deliver his promises, including his vow never to curse again.

“For me, that’s not new,” said Trillanes, a member of the Senate minority, when asked to comment on how Mr. Duterte had just broken his promise to stop firing off expletives.

“Open your eyes. Niloloko ka na. Niloloko na tayong lahat (You are being fooled.  We are all being fooled.),” he said.

Trillanes said “there’s something wrong with the Filipino people” when support for the President remains strong despite his frequent turnarounds from official pronouncements.

“He said he will not run… Filipinos just rode along… You didn’t see, you’ve been had… He said he will stop crime in three to six months… He said [during the campaign that] he will end smuggling in three days… He will jetski to the Spratlys… that he will double the salaries of police and military officers,” Trillanes said, enumerating promises Mr. Duterte has yet to fulfill.

“There’s something wrong with you when you allow yourselves to be fooled,” he said at a Senate media forum.

Trillanes also cited the lack of loud public outcry for the still growing death toll in the President’s fierce war on drugs, adding that there should be “a day of reckoning” for Mr. Duterte.

“When someone kills, he should be held accountable. If we are angry at thieves, how much more at murderers? There’s something wrong about our morals these days,” he said.

Trillanes believes the President is behind the spate of drug-related deaths, just as he was responsible for the killings of drug suspects in Davao City during his time as mayor there.

“I am firm in my belief that President Duterte was behind the DDS (Davao Death Squad) in Davao City and the extrajudicial killings now happening in our country,” he said.

“If he was not the one behind this, then why can’t he stop it? Instead, he is even encouraging the killings. This is the big problem we’re facing here,” said Trillanes.

Asked if he sensed any unrest in the military, Trillanes, a former Navy officer who led a mutiny against the Arroyo administration in July 2003, said soldiers are “uncomfortable” but have yet to reach a tipping point that would prompt them to move for the President’s ouster.

He said the military may not be expected to take action unless problems actually “knock on their doors.”

Trillanes also hit some of his colleagues in the chamber for being “apologists,” “enablers” and “collaborators” of President Duterte in pursuit of his war on drugs.

He said he was disappointed at five of his colleagues who have been “playing blind” to the deaths he believes have been spurred by Mr. Duterte’s brutal campaign against drug users and traffickers.

He also bared that there were at least 10 members of the Senate who were “not happy” with how government is being run.

“To me, there’s no debate on the war on drugs. Yes, we are all against that. But what we’re talking about is, what is your approach? Right now, I don’t see any holistic program. All they’re saying is ‘Kill them, kill them.’ To me, that’s wrong,” he said.

Trillanes did not name names. “If they feel alluded to, that’s probably them,” he said.