Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan on Sunday slammed President Rodrigo Duterte’s claim that his arch-critic Senator Antonio Trillanes IV had joined forces with the “yellows,” apparently referring to the opposition Liberal Party (LP), in a plot to remove him from Malacañang.
Pangilinan stressed that “on its own, either by its incompetence or corruption, the government is doing a good job of destabilizing itself.”
“The accusation of destabilization is downright false. It is ridiculous. Dissent is not destabilization. Every time scandals and controversies hound this administration, whether it be corruption issues or issues of incompetent governance, it blames the opposition,” Pangilinan said in a statement.
Upon his arrival on Saturday at the Davao International Airport from his trips to Israel and Jordan, the President warned of a unified effort from three groups that have connived to oust him by October.
“Tatlo yan, bantayan ninyo. ‘Yang Yellow, Liberal (Party), Trillanes, pati ang politburo (communists),” he said.
However, Pangilinan said that instead of throwing baseless accusations against LP and the rest of the opposition, “the government should listen to the cry of the people and focus on rising prices of goods and lack of jobs that would sufficiently provide for the average Filipino family.”
The LP president added that the government needs to listen to its own allies, who according to the senator, are also calling for the resignation of Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol and National Food Authority (NFA) officials for causing the rice crisis.
Pangilinan noted that some of the President’s allies, namely, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Representatives Joey Salceda and Karlo Nograles, Senator Cynthia Villar, and House leader Danny Suarez have called for the sacking of food officials over their alleged incompetence.
“If the President doesn’t want to listen to the opposition, that’s fine but his own allies are sounding the alarm bells. Malacañang should heed the clamor of its own allies and act decisively to solve the rice crisis,” he said. /cbb