MANILA, Philippines – Opposition senatorial candidate Samira Gutoc on Thursday lashed back at Foreign Affairs Sec. Teodoro Locsin Jr. who commented on her criticisms against President Rodrigo Duterte.
It a tweet, Locsin shared an Inquirer report and captioned that Gutoc “doesn’t know what she is talking about.”
In her response, Gutoc chided Locsin for apparently thinking that “rape jokes and violence quips have nothing to do with peace.”
“And between you and me, sir – ikaw naka aircon at ako isang bakwit at naranasan ang epekto ng gyera sa pami-pamilya, I definitely know what I am talking about, sir,” she quipped.
https://twitter.com/SamiraGutoc/status/1090858354581200896
In a press briefing on Wednesday, the Maranao civic leader blamed Duterte’s “divisive politics” for the peace problem the country faces today following the bombing of a church in Jolo, Sulu.
READ: Gutoc: Mr. President, you’re part of the peace problem
“Naririnig natin sa TV at sa radyo ang mismong Pangulo na nagsasabing saktan, nakawan, at patayin ang mga obispo. Direkta ang mga atake ng Pangulo sa simbahang Katoliko. Mr. President, kasali ka sa problema,” Gutoc said.
(The President himself encourages people to harm bishops. He is directly attacking the Catholic Church. Mr. President, you are part of the problem.)
The Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in Sulu was hit by two explosions, leaving 21 dead and at least 100 wounded, last Sunday.
Duterte, in various speeches, hurled unfounded attacks against the Catholic Church, which has been critical of his brutal war on drugs and anti-criminality drive.
Gutoc was a member of the President’s Bangsamoro Transition Commission tasked to draft the Bangsamoro Organic Law.
But when the President joked in July 2018 that he would congratulate a rapist who could carry out the crime, Gutoc resigned from her post. /gsg
READ: Duterte’s latest rape joke is on Miss Universe