President Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC
Sen. Richard Gordon said on Monday that President Rodrigo Duterte should moderate his language amid the criticisms he is getting from international media on his deadly war on drugs.
Speaking at the resumption of the Senate hearing on extrajudicial killings in the government war on drugs, Gordon, chair of the justice committee, underscored the need for the police to continue investigating the deaths of drug suspects who were killed by unidentified assailants as the country is facing much criticism in the government’s war on drugs.
There are 3,000 drug suspects killed since the government started its anti-drug campaign and 2,000 are considered deaths under investigaton.
Gordon also said that President Duterte also has tendency to react strongly to the reprimands he receives and gets into trouble with his statements.
“I’m a senator. I can say that. I’m a friend but he can get angry with me and I cannot do anything about it but we have to protect the country from bad statements and the President has the duty to be a statesman,” Gordon said.
READ: President Duterte, statesman
Gordon said Duterte “must not be heard saying bad words” as he noted the country might as well have a new tourism slogan and that is “Welcome PI or Wow PI.”
He said he hoped the Chief Executive would hear what he said.
Addressing Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald Bato dela Rosa, Gordon also asked why the United Nations was not fuming at the United States where in one city, Chicago, where US President Barack Obama has lived, there were killings of 545 people compared to the 3,000 deaths in the Philippines. RAM/rga