DAVAO CITY – Look who’s talking.
This was the response of the camp of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to Laguna Representative Dan Fernandez’s boasting that he could do more than the mayor in 10 years.
Leaders of the Duterte for President Movement said judging by his legislative performance during his terms in Congress, Fernandez has “very little to show.”
Mar Masanguid, a leader of the Duterte for President Movement, said one only has to visit the website of the House of Representatives to look at how Fernandez performed since 2007. “It’s anything but impressive,” Masanguid said.
Based on Congress’ website, Fernandez had sponsored 23 bills, including the conversion of municipal roads in Laguna into national roads, creation of four barangays in San Pedro City, a bill that sought the increase in the number of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Biñan City from 10 to 12.
READ: Laguna solon finds Duterte ‘overrated,’ says he can do better
His latest bill, which Congress had passed and was signed into law by President Aquino, made Biñan City a separate legislative district.
Masanguid said given his accomplishments at the House, Fernandez should not have boasted of rivaling Duterte’s achievements.
“If he was [a] hardworking congressman, who had filed major bills, I would have believed him,” he said.
Another Duterte ally, who declined to be named for lack of authority to speak on behalf of the mayor’s camp, also said in 2009, the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal kicked Fernandez out of the rolls after finding his residency in the first district of Laguna questionable.
“Who’s using who?’
Meanwhile, Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte also fired back at Senator Francis Escudero and said it was Escudero who was obviously using Senator Grace Poe and not his father.
The younger Duterte issued the statement via a Facebook post after Escudero had said that he respected the mayor’s opinion on Poe but disagrees with it.
Escudero also said he believes the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) was fair in its decision that favored Poe.
READ: Duterte: Poe ruling prompted me to run
He was also reported as saying the mayor should not use the decision of the SET as an excuse to run.
“Escudero, who is a lawyer himself, knows all too well that Grace Poe cannot be considered a natural-born Filipino citizen and does not satisfy the residency requirement yet he persistently pushes her to the presidential race,” Vice Mayor Duterte said.
“Now who’s using who? Escudero’s insistence on Poe’s qualifications springs from his personal ill-interest while Mayor Duterte’s position on Poe’s qualification is culled from the Constitution, which to him is the only document which holds this country together,” the younger Duterte added. CDG
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