Apologize to stroke survivors, Dela Rosa told

Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa —Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau

MANILA, Philippines — Akbayan Rep. Percival Cendaña welcomed Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa’s apology over his quip of punching the House lawmaker’s face to even it out and said it should be expressed to all stroke survivors who were offended.

The legislator, a stroke survivor, pointed out the flak the senator received should serve as a lesson that leaders needed to be humane and that a call for accountability wasn’t a personal attack.

In a short statement on Sunday, Cendaña said, “I welcome Senator Bato’s apology. I hope he can also do the same to all stroke survivors who were hurt by his remarks.”

“We’re not onion-skinned but it’s a different matter when a public servant of such [a] high position uses his voice to threaten people with violence and discriminate [against] people with health concerns,” he said.

Cendaña said in Filipino, “May this serve as an important lesson that a real leader doesn’t just have power but should also have caring [attitude]; to keep our political discourse rationale and humane; and that a call for accountability is not a personal attack against anybody but the responsibility of each Filipino.”

‘Toxic politics’

Deputy Minority Leader France Castro, the ACT Teachers representative, decried Dela Rosa’s statement as “cruel” and reflected the Dutertes’ “toxic politics.” She stressed that public servants needed to elevate instead of debasing political discourse.

“There’s no room for coarseness in political discourse, which should be focused on issues. Senator Dela Rosa’s remarks are not only cruel but reflect the kind of toxic politics that the Dutertes represent,” she said.

“These discriminatory comments have no place in political tit for tat. Instead of addressing the serious allegations of corruption and abuse of power in the impeachment complaint, Dela Rosa resorts to personal attacks and mockery of a person’s medical condition,” the lawmaker added.

Castro pointed out that instead of addressing the serious allegations in the impeachment complaint, “they resort to trivializing the process and attacking critics personally,” referring to Dela Rosa and Vice President Sara Duterte.