President Rodrigo Duterte lambasted government officials who attended climate change conferences abroad but had no contribution to alleviating the effects of actual climate change in the Philippines.
Speaking to his Cabinet and local officials in La Trinidad, Benguet, on Monday night, he said in jest that the country “was not lacking in its contributions in addressing climate change.”
“There are people in government, they’re there in climate change meetings in Melbourne, Tokyo, South America, Brazil, Netherlands,” he said.
Turning serious, the President noted: “But when a typhoon comes, the fools do nothing but watch TV. Stop this practice of … Where are they?”
“The one who went 11 times, I told him, ‘You resign. You resign.’” the President said.