Senatorial candidate Ronald dela Rosa, shown here when he was still chief of the Bureau of Corrections (File photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Senatorial candidate Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa defended the President’s anti-corruption efforts in a televised forum organized by CNN Philippines on Saturday — and got heckled for it.
During the forum, some senatorial candidates were asked whether or not President Rodrigo Duterte had done enough to stop corruption in the government.
Since assuming office in 2016, the President had sacked several government officials for corruption, but then he reassigned them to other posts.
When it was his turn to speak, Dela Rosa said: “The President is kawawang-kawawa na talaga.”
[The President is really very pitiful.]
The audience jeered the statement.
“Kawawa na dahil… Eh ayaw niyong maniwala eh. Makinig muna kayo sa akin,” Dela Rosa said.
[He’s pitiful because… You don’t want to believe it. Listen to me first.]
“May nangyari na ba na Presidente na inanggal niya lahat ng [nasa] Customs, dahil gusto niyang magbago, nilagyan ng mga sundalo. Meron na bang nangyari niyan sa history ng Pilipinas? Wala pa,” he added, referring to the Bureau of Customs, which was rocked by a drug smuggling scandal last October.
[Was there ever an instance when a President removed everyone at Customs because he wanted change and put in soldiers. Has there been anything like that in the history fo the Philippines. None yet.]
READ: Duterte fires all Customs execs amid ‘shabu’ scandal
He further defended the President’s effort to eradicate corruption.
“Grabe, lahat na lang inisip ng Presidente gawin para mawala ang corruption,” Dela Rosa said, which earned another round of jeering noises from the audience.
[The President has thought of all ways that can remove corruption.]
Dela Rosa then said that he himself decided to seek a Senate seat in the May 2019 elections to end corruption.
“Kaya nga ako, kaya ako nag-decide na tumakbong senador, kasi pag ako’y nanalo, mag-file ako ng bill at death penalty para sa mga corrupt na politiko. Death penalty sa corruption dapat para mahinto once and for all,” he said.
[That’s why I decided to run for senator, because if I win I will file a bill to reimpose the death penalty for corrupt politicians. It should be the death penalty for corruption so that it will stop once and for all.] /atm