MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has lambasted Senator Richard Gordon anew, this time saying he would campaign against the lawmaker for being unfit to be a senator.
“I would like to remind Senator Gordon na I will campaign against you for being unfit to be a senator of this republic,” Duterte said in a taped speech aired Tuesday.
“Well, others are trying to be a Chinese when they are not. Ikaw naman you are trying to be American na hindi ka naman talaga totoo na Amerikano,” he added.
(Well, others are trying to be Chinese when they are not while you are trying to be an American when you are not.)
Duterte earlier said he would find “what’s wrong” with senators, starting with Gordon who chairs the Senate blue ribbon committee that is currently investigating the purchase of allegedly overpriced medical items used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Every time that there is a committee hearing, you subpoena more than a hundred resource persons and witness and more than half of that number come from government. Instead of working, they are stuck attending hearings that last for more than 5 hours,” Duterte said.
“Tama ba yung ginagawa ninyo? Are you crazy? Bakit ganon? Can you not approximate the time that you take to make these persons testify, question and answer? Lalo na ikaw Gordon, abogado ka. It’s a waste of time,” he went on.
(Is what you’re doing right? Are you crazy? Why is it like that? Can you not approximate the time that you take to make these persons testify, question and answer? Especially you, Gordon, you’re a lawyer. It’s a waste of time.)
Earlier, Duterte threatened to terminate government transactions with the Philippine Red Cross, which is chaired by Gordon.
The President even asked the Commission on Audit to look into the humanitarian organization’s finances.
In response to Duterte’s tirades, Gordon has said the President is only on “self-destruct” mode and his attacks against senators are just distractions.