‘Rambotito’ tells ‘Punisher’: Your days are numbered

Rambotito will not be cowed by the Punisher.

Vice President Jejomar Binay on Friday said rival presidential candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte should be ready to “kneel down and pray” as he will soon be brought to justice—if Binay wins, of course.

“Your days are numbered. The law will soon catch up with you,” Binay said in a strongly worded statement as he ramped up his rhetoric against Duterte whom he called “Mr. Butcher who kills children and the poor.”

Binay was obviously trying to get  back at the Duterte camp for saying that the former city  mayor of Makati would be the first “big fish” to be thrown in jail for corruption if Duterte, who is now the recognized front-runner, becomes President.

For more than a week now, the Vice President has been relentless in his attacks against the tough-talking Davao mayor—nicknamed the Punisher for his uncompromising stance against criminals—warning that he will soon be held accountable for his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings.

“You admitted many times—you even bragged about it—that you killed thousands who are suspected to be involved in crime …. You should be made to answer under the law and in the eyes of God,” Binay told those attending his campaign sorties.

Not afraid

He began pouncing on his rival on April 7, when Duterte started scaling the polls on preferred presidential candidates. Earlier this week, Duterte became No. 1, while Binay had to settle for third.

In his statement on Friday, Binay told off the Duterte camp for threatening to send him to jail for corruption if the Davao mayor becomes President.

“Do not threaten me. I am not afraid of you,” said Binay, who was famously given the “Rambotito” (Little Rambo) moniker when, as the Makati mayor, he was photographed wearing fatigues and carrying an Uzi during one of the coup attempts against President Corazon Aquino.

Binay, whose key campaign platform is poverty alleviation, accused Duterte of killing only the poor.

“You should be the one that should fear God and the law. Instead of helping the poor, you kill them based on mere suspicion. You never kill anyone who is rich, any big-time [drug] pusher or smuggler in your city,” he said.

“Your plan to eliminate poverty is to eliminate the poor.  Violence is not the solution to poverty. Killing minors is not the solution,” he said.

Killing the poor

Binay took his anti-Duterte campaign to Dipolog City on Friday, where he drew a contrast between his “respect [for] the right to life” and Duterte’s allegedly grim record of extrajudicial killings.

“I respect a person’s right to life. That’s why when I was Makati mayor, the poor did not die because of sickness or poverty. Why? Because hospitalization and medicine are free for the poor,” he said, addressing a crowd at the Dipolog City plaza.

“That’s my experience: I help the poor live. I do not kill. I am not a butcher who kills,” he said.

By contrast, he said Duterte kills the poor. “He does not kill anyone who is rich. Why the poor? Because they can’t put up a fight,” Binay said.

Binay then brought out photos of the Alia siblings—Richard, 18, Christopher, 17, and Bobby, 14—who were allegedly executed by the Davao Death Squad between 2001 and 2002 “based on mere suspicion.”

He had first cited the case of the siblings in a radio interview on April 7, when he launched his assault on Duterte.

On Thursday, Binay promised to bring death squad executions to justice and hold Duterte and the hit men accountable, if elected President.

So sue me

Responding to Binay’s accusations, Duterte on Friday said he had already been cleared by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and the Department of Justice concerning his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings.

“If you have evidence against me, then file a case,” Duterte told Binay.

The Davao mayor said he had already been investigated by the CHR, when it was headed by senatorial candidate Leila de Lima, on his alleged role in the killing of criminals in Davao City and nothing was found.

He said De Lima had twice investigated him on this issue but never filed a case.

Duterte also said he had never killed women and children. “I have never killed an innocent person,” he said.

He explained that he had set up a multimillion-peso drug rehabilitation center where drug dependents could voluntarily go for rehabilitation.

“Why would I kill the women and children, it’s better to rehabilitate them,” he said.

But he admitted having shot and killed criminals who kidnapped a teenager.

He also said he has a standing order for the police not to hesitate in shooting a criminal who violently resists arrest.

Justice, not vengeance

As two of her rivals threaten each other with jail over corruption and murder allegations,  Poe said all crimes should be investigated, but the motive should be justice, not vengeance.

“We should investigate any issue of corruption or abuse. But a President must be fair and give the parties due process,” Poe told reporters in Pili, Camarines Sur province.

“It’s difficult if we would just keep on wanting to seek revenge,” Poe said.

“If there is something to investigate, we should do so but we should follow the proper legal process and have a swift trial,” she added.

Poe also addressed criticisms of the statement she earlier made about making Duterte her anticrime czar should she win. She said it was not an endorsement of the Davao mayor’s alleged support of extrajudicial killings.

If Duterte gets such a position, he would have to follow the law and due process, she said. With reports from Nancy Carvajal and Leila B. Salaverria