Palace to Risa: Look who’s talking

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. JOAN BONDOC/Philippine Daily Inquirer

Malacañang on Friday fired back at opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros for calling President Rodrigo Duterte “destabilizer in chief.”

“It is ironic that Risa Hontiveros, who spends so much of her time undermining the efforts of this administration, would refer to the President as ‘destabilizer in chief,’” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a statement.

He said the public wanted “a moratorium [on] excessive politicking” as many people from different parts of the country struggled to get back on their feet in the wake of Typhoon “Ompong” (international name: Mangkhut).

Moratorium on politicking

“During this challenging time when the nation must stand as one because of the tragedies that befell our farmers from northern Luzon, the miners of Itogon, Benguet, [and] the residents of Naga, Cebu, what our people expect is a moratorium [on] excessive politicking from our elected leaders,” he said.

Hontiveros had dismissed Mr. Duterte’s claims of a plot by the government’s enemies to unseat him, saying the President was the real “destabilizer in chief.”

In her speech at Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila, on Thursday, the senator maintained that the President’s critics were not destabilizers seeking to bring down the government.

Destabilized PH democracy

Instead, she pointed to Mr. Duterte as having destabilized the country’s democracy, economy, peace, rice prices and other basic goods, and other government institutions.

“President Duterte is the real destabilizer. President Duterte is not a commander in chief but a destabilizer in chief,” Hontiveros said.

To this, Roque pointed out that the President had made “significant strides” in his war on drugs, criminality and corruption.

“Many Filipinos agree that when there is peace and order, the economy thrives. Adult joblessness as well as crimes are decreasing,” he said. —JULIE M. AURELIO