For Senator Manny Pacquiao, a Philippine leader should have “balls and conviction.”
“Kelangan ang maging Pangulo dito sa ating bansa may bayag, may paninidigan, matapang,” Pacquiao told reporters on Wednesday.
(The President of this country should have balls, conviction, and should be courageous.)
“Hindi pwe-pwede ‘yung lalambot-lambot ka (You can’t be soft about it),” he added.
The senator made the remark on Wednesday when asked about President Rodrigo Duterte’s repeated statement that he was thinking of stepping down from his post.
The senator believes the President was serious about resigning, saying Duterte himself had also mentioned it to him.
But if he were to be asked, Pacquiao said: “Sa tingin ko, para sa akin, tapusin niya ang term niya (I think, for me, he should finish his term.)
He said he would convince Duterte not to resign.
“Ako ang magkukumbinsi sa Pangulo na huwag siyang mag resign. Kelangan pa siya ng taumbayan (I will convince the President not to resin. Our countrymen still need him).”
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, meanwhile, believes the President was just exasperated when he blurted out his sentiments about resignation.
Knowing the President, Sotto said abandoning his post is just out of character.
“Frustration lang ‘yun, hindi resignation. I don’t think he knows the word surrender, hindi niya gagawin yun. I don’t believe that he will do it. Nagsasabi lang niya ‘yun siguro nga dahil pagod,” he said in a separate interview at the Senate.
(It’s just frustration, not resignation. I don’t think he knows the word surrender, he would not do it. I don’t believe that he will do it. He just said it out of exasperation.) /je