MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday criticized senators once more, giving particular attention to Senator Richard Gordon whom he called a “talkathon” champion after the lawmaker led a seven-hour Senate hearing last week.
In a taped address that aired Tuesday, Duterte slammed senators for “showing off” and urged the public to no longer vote for them in the coming elections.
He particularly mentioned Gordon, whose Blue Ribbon committee has been leading a Senate investigation into the Department of Health’s (DOH) handling of pandemic funds.
“Makita mo si Gordon sa mga TV pagka-committee hearing niya, pakita mo maraming mga congressman pag-roll call. Pero dahan dahan yan mawala kasi si Gordon ang champion noon. Nanalo, siya ang nanalo sa talkathon, champion,” Duterte said.
“Puro daldal, kanya yung tanong, kanya yung sagot. At siya ang magsabi kung mali ka o hindi,” he added.
At one point, Duterte likened Gordon to a “German interrogator” during the Nazi regime.
“Bugbugin 7 hours. Seven hours bugbugin mo ang tao ng tanong, mawawala talaga. I think the last was about 7 hours,” the President said.
“Baliktarin ka nang baliktarin hanggang yung pati si Lao, natutulala,” he added, referring to former Budget Undersecretary Christopher Lao, who was grilled by senators during a seven-hour hearing led by Gordon last Friday.
Lao was head of the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management, which procured medical supplies from a company that has a small startup capital, which was awarded a multi-billion government contract.
But Duterte wasn’t done pointing out Gordon’s attributes as head of the Senate committee hearing the procurement deal; he also took potshots at Gordon’s weight, with an advice for the senator to lose some.
“Ang advice ko sa iyo, magpapapayat ka,” he told Gordon.
The President’s criticism of the senator’s appearance did not stop there.
“Pati yung buhok mo, iba na ang…,” he added, leaving his sentence hanging.
Senator Panfilo Lacson also did not go unscathed from the President’s ire.
“Lahat kayo, pati si Ping, iba ang hairdo,” Duterte said.
Duterte’s latest criticism of senators come after the lawmakers hit back at the president’s previous remarks claiming that Senate investigations lead to “nothing.”