MANILA, Philippines—Whether President Rodrigo Duterte was joking or not, former Daanbantayan, Cebu, Mayor Vicente Loot would be “better off minding his physical security 24/7.”
The unsolicited advice came from Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former police chief.
“Well, you should ask him first if he was joking or serious when he said that,” Lacson said in a text message on Wednesday when sought for comment on Duterte’s remark he ordered Loot’s ambush last year.
“Midway into his term, we should already be familiar with his penchant for saying something as serious as that and dismissing it as a joke afterwards.”
“Joke or not, Mayor Loot would be better off minding his physical security 24/7,” the senator added.
In a speech Tuesday, Duterte was quoted as saying: “Loot, p… mo, nanalo pa na mayor. Inambush kita, animal ka, buhay pa rin!”
READ: Duterte says he ordered ambush of ex-mayor Loot
Loot, a former general, and his family survived the ambush at a wharf in Daanbatayan.
In 2016, Duterte tagged Loot as one of the five “narco generals” but they all denied the allegations. /muf