Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III. (File photo by LYN RILLON / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
If you do not agree with the policies of President Duterte, then get out of his administration.
This was Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III’s message to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) as he explained that the rights body’s continued criticism of President Duterte and his war on drugs prompted the administration-dominated House of Representatives to slash the agency’s budget for 2018 to P1,000.
“Kasi naman kung ikaw nagtatrabaho ka sa isang gobyerno at hindi mo gusto mga polisiya ng namumuno, eh di umalis ka at tsaka mo pintasan,” Sotto said in an ambush interview on Wednesday.
“Ang magandang kilos ng CHR, ‘yung mga insidente, ‘yon ang asikasuhin nila nang husto hindi ‘yung policy ng gobyerno which is the war on drugs. Kung ‘yon tinitira mo eh talagang hindi kayo magkakasundo at talagang hindi kayo magugustuhan ng mga congressman,” he added.
The senator said CHR commissioner Chairman Chito Gascon should better assess himself and try to see if he’s putting the agency in jeopardy.
“Siguro naman dapat mag-isip isip din si Chairman na siya nagiging balakid for the entire commission,” he said.
Sotto said he would not call for Gascon’s resignation but he would advise the CHR chief to “confine himself to the issues” and incidents of human rights violations.
“Stop barking at the President or the policies of the government. Policy ng Presidente ‘yan eh. Kung ayaw mo no’n, eh di umalis ka,” he added.
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