Aquino mum on Duterte’s tirade, but allies react

Former President Noynoy Aquino after a Mass was offered for the 8th death anniversary of his mother, former President Cory Aquino at Manila Memorial Park, Parañaque. Dexter Cabalza/Inquirer

A former aide and a political ally did the fighting for former President Benigno Aquino III, who chose to keep mum after his successor, President Duterte, called him “gago” for citing data that showed no change in the number of drug users despite a bloody war on drugs by Mr. Duterte.

On Wednesday at a speech during the 113th anniversary of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Mr. Duterte said Aquino commented on the drug war “as if nothing happened.”

“Gago ka (You’re a fool),” Mr. Duterte ranted. “Go into drugs and see if I don’t behead you,” the President added.

While Aquino chose to remain silent, a former aide took up the cudgels for him.

“To call P-Noy (Aquino’s presidential nickname) gago is not a reflection on P-Noy’s argument,” said Edwin Lacierda, former presidential spokesperson, in a tweet.

“It is a reflection of your uncouthness,” Lacierda said, addressing himself to Mr. Duterte.

“Cursing never elevates public discourse,” he added.

Different view

Lacierda also defended Aquino against what appeared to be a reference made by Mr. Duterte to the former President’s tendency to stick to the script in delivering speeches.

He said Aquino had given impromptu speeches, too, but none of Mr. Duterte’s was “memorable.”

At the Senate, one of the few remaining members of the Liberal Party (LP), which had been the country’s most powerful political party during Aquino’s term, also fought back for the former president.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, LP president, said there was no need for Mr. Duterte to resort to cuss words or insults if he disagreed with someone’s views.

“We believe that addressing the drug problem should be viewed primarily as a health problem with the corresponding rehabilitation programs for those afflicted,” Pangilinan said, defending Aquino’s view that the killings of drug suspects had done little, or nothing, to stop the drug menace.

The campaign against drugs, said Pangilinan, should “not just be viewed as a law enforcement problem.”

While not really an ally of Aquino, Sen. Grace Poe said that what she found objectionable was Mr. Duterte’s use of cuss words.

She said the President’s cuss words could prompt children to also curse.

“Do we agree with that?” said Poe. “As long as you know what’s right or wrong. Just a reminder, SPG (strict parental guidance),” said the senator, former head of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

Numbers don’t lie

On the eighth death anniversary of his mother, democracy icon Corazon Aquino, Aquino cited official data that showed no change in the number of drug users from end 2015 to end 2016.

Aquino said data given him by the end of 2015 showed there were 1.8 million drug users in the country.

The Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Nationwide Survey on the Nature and Extent of Drug Abuse is updated every end of the year.

By the end of 2016 when Aquino was no longer President, the DDB survey showed that there were still 1.8 million drug users.

The survey earned the ire of Mr. Duterte who fired DDB head Benjamin Reyes in May for “contradicting” the President’s data on drug users.

Mr. Duterte had repeatedly said there were at least 4 million drug users in the country.

“All I can say is if there were 1.8 million [drug users] during our time and their survey still said 1.8 million after a year of an all-out war against drugs, the numbers are the same,” Aquino said in an interview after ceremonies for Cory’s death anniversary.

“The minimum question would be ‘Why has there been no change?’” he added.

Without directly referring to the killings of thousands of drug suspects, either by police or unidentified gunmen, Aquino cited a constitutional provision mandating the state to protect all its citizens.

If citizens had been murdered, said Aquino, it was the state’s duty to bring the murderer to justice.