Gordon: Do I owe Duterte anything?

Senator Richard Gordon maintained that he does not owe President Duterte anything for him to protect the latter’s son Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and son-in-law Mans Carpio from being investigated over their alleged involvement in corrupt activities within the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

“Sino ba kinakatigan ko? Bakit? (Who am I siding with? Why?) Do I owe Duterte anything? Do I owe anybody anything? Please don’t judge,” Gordon told reporters at the Senate on Thursday.

Critics were accusing Gordon and Senate majority leader Tito Sotto III of attempting to cover up the involvement of Duterte and Carpio in the BOC’s “Davao Group.”

Both senators objected to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV’s motion to summon Duterte and Carpio in the next hearing so they could explain allegations that they were part of the Davao Group.

“I don’t react to criticisms especially if they are unfounded. I’ve been criticized all my life,” Gordon said.

The senator, however, urged critics to look into his track record as a public official.

“I’ve gone against past presidents of the Philippines. Hindi ako nagtatapang-tapangan, sabi nga niya (Trillanes) lumaban ako; nag-barricade ako noon sa Subic. Oo, nilabanan ko si (former President Corazon Aquino) noong araw at si (former President Ferdinand Marcos),” Gordon said.

(I’m not just pretending to be fearless, like what Trillanes said, I fought back; I barricaded back then in Subic. Yes, I fought back at former President Corazon Aquino back in the day and at former President Ferdinand Marcos.) JE