Palace: Nothing wrong with Dela Rosa supporting Duterte
MANILA, Philippines — There is nothing wrong with Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa expressing his support for President Rodrigo Duterte even if he’s now an elected lawmaker, Malacañang said Friday.
“Wala namang masama din don na suportahan niya si Presidente (There’s nothing wrong with him supporting the President),” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in an ambush interview.
“Hindi naman masama yun (There’s nothing wrong with that),” Panelo insisted.
Dela Rosa recently drew for reaffirming his support for Duterte when asked how the President’s opinion would influence his vote on the franchise renewal of media giant ABS-CBN.
Duterte has repeatedly threatened to shut down the broadcast giant.
Dela Rosa, a former national police chief, added he would “live and die” and “sink and swim” with the President.
READ: Dela Rosa: 11k workers affected by ABS-CBN shutdown? How about the Filipino nation?
“Alam mo, ang bawat tao merong personal na sentimyento sa isang kasama niya, kaibigan. Pero tandaan niyo, bawat isa rin may kanya kanyang prinsipyo,” Panelo said.
“Siguro kaya niya sinusuportahan kasi parehas sila ng prinsipyo ni Presidente on matters, subject, na pinaguusapan. Kung lumihis na sa prinsipyo niya, edi syempre kokontra na rin siya,” Panelo added.
(Maybe he supports the President because they have the same principles on some matters and subjects. If it’s contrary to his principle, of course he would also express opposition.)
Dela Rosa’s earlier stressed that he is not blindly following the President and that they just think alike.
He added that he would vote on the network’s franchise renewal based on whether or not alleged abuses are true.
