Dela Rosa: Sara Duterte 'in no rush’ to be president

Dela Rosa: Sara Duterte ‘in no rush’ to be president, it’s someone else

/ 01:20 PM November 29, 2024

PAYING ILLEGALLY DISMISSED NAPOCOR EMPLOYEES: Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa urges the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) to allocate fund to pay the former employees of the National Power Corporation (NPC) who were illegal dismissed. Dela Rosa said the NPC employees wrote him a letter and asked his help because they have been denied of just and fair compensation despite the ruling from the Supreme Court (SC) directing the NPC to pay them. In response, Dennis Edward Dela Serna, PSALM president, said based on Commission on Audit validated list, only 1,715 claimants and rehired employees are not included. ‘We need your validation for the total numbers of employees, so, can we have a meeting with PSALM, the claimants, and the NPC,” Dela Rosa said in Filipino. PSALM was created in 2001 through the EPIRA Law which was essentially enacted to restructure the power sector previously monopolized by the National Power Corporation or NPC. PSALM was entrusted to formulate and implement a privatization plan for the government’s energy assets previously held by the NPC. The corporation also took over the ownership of all existing NPC generation assets, liabilities, Independent Power Producers or IPP contracts, real estate, and all other disposable assets. (File photo/Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa (File photo/Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa hit back at a lawmaker’s remark regarding Vice President Sara Duterte’s supposed presidential ambition, saying she is “in no rush” to become the commander-in-chief.

Dela Rosa’s comments were in response to a comment made by House Assistant Majority Leader Jefferson Khonghun in a press conference on Thursday, Nov. 28.

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Khonghun said, “Nagsimula lang naman lahat ng kaguluhan na ito noong mangarap ang ating bise presidente na maging presidente nang maaga, noong mangarap ang former President [Rodrigo Duterte] na paupuin yung kanyang anak na maging presidente kaagad.”

(This entire mess started when our vice president aspired to become president early, when former President [Rodrigo Duterte] dreamed of making his daughter president as soon as possible.)

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Khonghun is Zambales 1st District representative and a member of the House ‘Young Guns’ bloc, a group of neophyte lawmakers from both the majority and the minority.

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In a chance interview with reporters at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) on Friday, dela Rosa responded, “Atat si Inday Sara na maging presidente? Or yung boss nila ang atat maging presidente in 2028 kaya dine-demolish nila si VP Sara? Which is which?”

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(Is Inday Sara in a rush to be president? Or is it their boss who is in a rush to be president in 2028? Isn’t that why they’re demolishing VP Sara? Which is which?)

While Dela Rosa himself did not explicitly name who “the boss” is, Duterte previously claimed that House Speaker Martin Romualdez wanted to kill her.

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The senator is a long-time ally of the Duterte clan.

READ: VP Duterte: Romualdez is the only person who wants to kill me

Romualdez responded in a House speech on Monday, saying the vice president’s accusations were “unfounded and baseless” and a distraction from the issues at hand.

READ: Romualdez warns VP Duterte: No noise can drown out truth

Dela Rosa further defended Duterte.

“Hindi siya atat. Hindi siya atat maging presidente. Hindi siya atat,” he repeated.

(She’s not in a rush. She’s not rushing to be president. She’s not in a rush.)

“Kung bibigay ng Panginoon yan sa kanya… To become a president is a destiny. Hindi yan pwedeng ambisyunin. Hindi pwedeng planuhin,” he added.

(If God gives it to her… To become a president is a destiny. It’s not something to aspire to. It’s not something to plan for.)

“Useless yung paninira nyo, yung pang-demolish nyo, yung inyong mga atake. Useless yan. Hindi talaga mapupunta sa inyo kung hindi yan ibibigay ni Lord sa inyo,” the senator emphasized.

(Your bad-mouthing is useless, your demolition job, your attacks. That’s all useless. The presidency won’t ever be yours if the Lord doesn’t give it to you.)

Dela Rosa was again at the VMMC, where detained Office of the Vice President (OVP) chief of staff Zuleika Lopez is being treated for acute stress disorder and muscle strain.

He said, “Yung kay Inday Sara naman ay reaksyon lamang sa mga aksyon na ginagawa nila sa HOR (House of Representatives) at saka sa Malacañang.”

(On the part of Inday Sara, it’s just her reaction to the actions being done to her by the House of Representatives and Malacañang.)

“Kung wala silang ginagawa, tahimik naman itong vice president natin. Nagtatrabaho lang. Huwag lang nilang galawin kasi magre-react talaga ‘yan,” he observed.

(If they weren’t doing anything, our vice president would be quiet. She’d just be working. They just have to avoid rattling her because she really will react.)

Lopez was brought to the VMMC last Saturday after falling ill amid an order from the House to transfer her from its custodial facility in the Batasang Pambansa Complex to the Correctional Institution for Women.

READ: Sara Duterte’s chief of staff falls ill, rushed to hospital

The OVP chief of staff was detained by Congress after being cited for contempt during its inquiry into an alleged budget misuse by the vice president.

Following the transfer order, in a virtual press conference Saturday early morning, Duterte said she instructed a person to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.; his wife, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos; and his cousin, Speaker Romualdez, if she would be killed.

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The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) subpoenaed Duterte for her remarks, but the vice president was a no-show on Friday morning.

READ: VP Duterte open to NBI probe despite Friday absence, says dela Rosa

Dela Rosa, however, said Duterte was “willing” to face the investigation and suggested that the NBI go to the OVP’s office instead.

TAGS: Sara Duterte

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