De Lima ‘fears further decline of level of discourse, language’ amid Abella exit

Sen. Leila de Lima—MARIANNE BERMUDEZ/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Senator Leila de Lima has lamented the removal of Undersecretary Ernesto Abella as presidential spokesperson, as she panned President Rodrigo Duterte and some of his men who “corrupted Filipino values.”

In a statement issued on Monday, De Lima said: “With the departure of (Usec.) Abella, I fear the even further decline of the level of discourse and language we could expect from now on from the President and his men.”

Last Friday, Mr. Duterte announced the appointment of Kabayan Party-list Rep. Harry Roque as incoming presidential spokesperson effective November 6.

READ: Harry Roque named Duterte’s spokesman

De Lima cited as examples Duterte’s Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, whom she said have “corrupted, contaminated and thrown into the garbage” the “well-preserved values of Filipinos” by “making inappropriately disgusting jokes during interviews.”

“Unfortunately, however, the truth is that they are just a reflection of the person they serve.  No, they do not serve the Filipino people,” noted De Lima, who is in detention at Camp Crame for drug-related charges.

“They serve a baser master, one who revels in their obnoxious character and depravity. One who lets go of a man as decent as (Undersecretary) Abella,” she added.

On October 25, Andanar described European groups critical of Mr. Duterte as people who “cannot have enough sex.”

“Iyong mga nasa baba na pala-iyot, sila lang ang maingay kasi kulang sila sa iyot. Kung merong mga bata dito, huwag niyo na lang i-interpret iyon,” Andanar said before overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the United Kingdom.

(Those who are at the bottom who loves to have sex; they are noisy because they can’t have enough sex. If there are kids here, just do not interpret it.)

READ: ‘They’re noisy because they can’t have enough sex’ – Andanar to EU critics

Meanwhile, Panelo, during an interview with Swiss National Public Radio South East Asia correspondent Karin Wenger on October 23, joked about “fucking his clothes.”

“Well, when I was still a bachelor, they said I f*ck like an 18 year old. I f*ck my clothes like an 18-year-old. Because I travel a lot,” Panelo told Wenger.

READ: Duterte’s Chief Legal Counsel Includes Sexual ‘Joke’ In International Interview

Panelo, however, later corrected this by saying that he meant “pack my clothes” and that the radio correspondent merely misspelled the word.

“But their actions and apparent mental state seem to be symptomatic of a prevalent corrupted mindset in our so-called government officials today: why be right when you can be wrong?” De Lima said.

“Why be a good public servant when you can be a bad one? After all, even the President seems to get away with it,” she added.   /kga