President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday that Naga City, the hometown of Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo, was once a “hotbed of shabu.”
Duterte made this remark as he again belittled Robredo’s abilities as a leader.
The President said he was ready to “step down and retire” should the military and the police find his right successor.
“The problem is, I cannot suggest to them that you follow the succession which is really the Constitution, but if they do it, I said go ahead. I am hesitant to suggest a constitutional succession,” he said in a speech during a business event in Malacañang.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the vice president becomes the president should the highest political post in the country becomes vacant.
“I have nothing against Robredo. She’s a lawyer, you’ve heard her talk. But I do not think she can improve on anything here. Of course, she will deny it,” Duterte said.
He went on and said that Naga City was a hotbed of illegal drugs.
“You can ask the hotbed of shabu. In the past years. I will not mention the name. It was Naga City. It was in Naga City,” he said.
“So I said, I won’t suggest to the military,” he added.