Koko OK with Duterte acting like a dictator; Ping advises caution

Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III backed President Rodrigo Duterte’s “dictatorial” style of leadership, saying the latter “can and should do it” within the executive branch.

“Style Lang naman yon and he can and should do that within his branch THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH,” Pimentel said in a text message on Friday.

“Dapat super strict sya para nga may mangyari!” he added when sought for comment on Duterte’s own admission that he had to act like a “dictator” to move the country forward.

Duterte and Pimentel are chairman and president of the ruling PDP-Laban, respectively.

“If you say dictator, I am really a dictator. Because if I don’t [act like a] dictator, son of a bitch, nothing will happen to this nation. That’s true,” the President was quoted as saying in a speech on Wednesday.

“If I don’t [act like] a dictator—my style now—nothing will happen to this country,” Duterte further said.

READ: Duterte: I’m really a dictator 

While he believes the President was just “exaggerating,” Senator Panfilo Lacson said Duterte’s words would not help the case filed against him before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Duterte has been charged with crimes against humanity in connection with alleged extrajudicial killings in the country.

“Those are words that won’t help his present issue with the ICC,” Lacson said. “He is of course exaggerating since we all know there is no dictatorship prevailing in the country. He might be referring to his style of leadership towards his subalterns in the executive.”

“In a way, if I were a leader of men as I was when I was still with the police service, it pays to adopt that leadership style, to the point of being a dictator when dealing with shenanigans in the government bureaucracy. But, it pays more when a leader adopts only one standard, not double or triple in exercising dictatorial leadership, lest it will never be effective,” the senator added.

Lacson was chief of the Philippine National Police during the time of then President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada./ac