MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte asked Vice President Leni Robredo not to “add fuel to the fire,” saying problems of the country cannot be solved even if he “dies.”
“Ito namang kay Leni and her ending statement, kung hindi ko raw gawin, ng gobyerno, gagawin ng tao [If I will not do it, nor by the government, the people will do it],” Duterte said in a taped address aired Tuesday.
“Please do not add fuel to the fire. You will just destroy government. Wag ninyong sirain ang gobyerno kasi masisira ang tao. Pag nasisira ang gobyerno, lulutang tayong lahat. Maski na sabihin ninyo mamatay ako bukas, it cannot solve the problem of the country,” he added.
(Do not destroy the government because it will also destroy the people. If the government is destroyed, we will all float away. Even if you say that I will die tomorrow, it cannot solve the problem of the country.)
Robredo had a public address Monday night to report her recommendations on how to improve the Philippine economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the latter part of her speech, Robredo took a swipe on the government by saying the people will make way to overcome the pandemic “if there is no one leading.”
“At kung walang mamumuno, tayo mismo ang hahakbang, tayo mismo ang magtutulungan, tayo mismo ang bibitbit sa isa’t isa,” Robredo said.
(If there is no one leading, we ourselves will make a step, we will help each other, we will carry each other.)
“Tayo mismo ang tititig sa mukha ng krisis na ito at buong-tapang na ihahayag: Maaari mo kaming mapaluhod, pero hindi kailanman mapipigilan ang paulit-ulit at taas-noo naming pagtindig. Pilipino kami. Mas malakas kami sa anumang pagsubok,” she added.
(We ourselves will look into the face of the crisis and bravely say: You may make us kneel but you will not stop us from proudly standing up. We are Filipinos. We are strong in whatever problems we face.)
Previously, Robredo gave suggestions on how to improve the government’s pandemic response and sent it to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
While Roque welcomed her suggestions, he said there was nothing new in her recommendations and that these have long been implemented by the government.