Duterte: I’m not qualified to replace Robredo

One of the most familiar faces in local government on Friday reiterated he was not qualified to replace the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, saying the post had been offered to him several times but that he declined it.

Rodrigo Duterte, now Davao City mayor, said he was not qualified to replace Robredo or become a local government secretary.

“I am not qualified before, I am not qualified now,” said Duterte, who is being blamed for a spate of extrajudicial killings of crime suspects in his city.

According to Duterte, past presidents have offered him the post of local government and interior secretary but he declined the offers.

Duterte said the only image he has of Robredo was of a “very simple man and an honest-to-goodness government worker.”

According to Duterte, former President Fidel Ramos had offered him the DILG post. This was followed by offers from Ramos’ successors—Joseph Estrada, who was ousted before he could complete half of his term and charged and convicted with plunder, and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who now faces a string of criminal cases, including plunder.

According to Duterte, President Aquino had also offered him the position of local government and interior secretary before Robredo was appointed to the post. He declined the latest offer, Duterte said.

“I don’t want to accept any national post. I am not qualified,” Duterte, a lawyer by profession, said. Germelina Lacorte, Inquirer Mindanao