Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV on Wednesday urged the public not to vote for Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Jejomar Binay in the upcoming presidential elections.
“Sana kung makukumbinsi ko ‘yung mga kababayan natin, ‘wag naman kayong pumili sa dalawa (Duterte and Binay),” Trillanes said over dzMM radio.
Trillanes, who is seeking the vice presidency, previously said it would be a “disaster” for the country if Duterte would be elected president due to his iron-fist style of leadership and alleged human rights abuses.
But Trillanes clarified he was not insinuating that Binay was better than Duterte.
“Ang sinasabi ko, mas magiging malala para sa bayan kung magiging presidente si Duterte. Ang daming red flags. Nag-usap po kami nung Abril dahil gusto kong kilalanin ‘yung tao behind the myth.
Trillanes said the tough-talking mayor had no anticorruption agenda.
“Sinasabi n’ya bibigyan n’ya ng Cabinet post si Joma Sison (of Communist Party of the Philippines), pakakawalan niya si GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo), so walang corruption agenda ‘to. In fact kaibigan n’ya si Binay eh,” he said. “Then itong pagpatay, actually kapag nag-uusap kami, casually sinasabi n’ya eh.”
The senator said that in the “hierarchy of evils,” it would be easier to look after a corrupt leader than someone like Duterte.
“Ang akin lang kasi dito, na-i-imagine ko ‘yung scenario na makikitil ‘yung boses ng Pilipino, ma-o-oppress ‘yung tao. Ayaw nating isipin na aabot tayo sa ganun,” Trillanes said.
“’Yung mga ganyan na simplistic formula, ginawa na ‘yan eh. Sinabi na ‘yan nila Hitler, na ang salot sa lipunan mga Jews kaya pagpapatayin ‘yan,” he added.
Trillanes also reiterated his support for the presidential bid of Sen. Grace Poe, adding he was confident that she would not be disqualified from the race.
“She is Filipino and qualified to run, and she will be the president of the country,” Trillanes said, adding that administration bet Mar Roxas was second in his “hierarchy of preference.” RC