President Rodrigo Duterte’s admission that he is a “dictator” is a sign of “worse things to come,” the Liberal Party (LP) warned on Monday.
In a statement, the political party said that in the past, Mr. Duterte has always done what he said, just like when he said that he would declare martial law.
“(H)e does what he says, like the numerous times he said he wanted to impose martial law long before he actually did so in Mindanao, his threats against media, his jailing of Senator Leila de Lima, and the silencing of those who disagree with him,” the opposition party said.
All these “are portent of worse things to come,” according to the LP.
“Fear and control of information are ways to keep people in a tight grip,” the political party said, urging Filipinos not to succumb to a dictatorship.
“We Filipinos have lived under a dictatorship. We don’t want it. Because we know it leads only to widespread plunder and the restriction of our basic rights,” it added.
Last Wednesday, Duterte defended his style of leadership, stressing the country would make no progress if he did not act like a “dictator.”
“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,” he said.
READ: Duterte: I’m really a dictator
/kga