Bayan to Duterte: ‘Di mo kailangang lumangoy sa baha’
MANILA, Philippines — Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Secretary-General Renato Reyes on Thursday answered back at President Rodrigo Duterte moments after the Chief Executive said members of his Presidential Security Group (PSG) prevented him from visiting areas that were flooded by the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses.
Duterte, in his address to the nation, added that if it were up to him, he would have swum in the flooded areas just to visit Filipinos affected by the typhoon.
“Gusto kong lumabas, gusto kong lumangoy; matagal na akong hindi naligo eh. Kaya lang, ayaw nitong mga sundalo. Sila ang ayaw maligo, ibig sabihin,” the President said.
(I want to go out, I wanted to swim; I haven’t done it in a while. However, the soldiers stopped me. They do not want to swim, that’s what it means.)
“No one asked you to swim,” Reyes said on Twitter, answering to Duterte’s pronouncement.
No one asked you to swim. People needed clear guidelines, early warnings, sufficient resources and logistics and preemptive measures. Di mo kailangang lumangoy sa baha. https://t.co/JFxswkzwQR
— Renato Reyes, Jr. (@natoreyes) November 12, 2020
“People needed clear guidelines, early warnings, sufficient resources and logistics, and preemptive measures,” Reyes added.
“Di mo kailangang lumangoy sa baha (You don’t need to swim in the flood.),” the Bayan secretary-general said.
The Chief Executive, who virtually attended the opening ceremony of the 37th Asean Summit on Thursday morning, addressed the nation after #NasaanAngPangulo became a trending topic on Twitter once again amid the strong winds and rains in parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila.
