When President Rodrigo Duterte slammed Senator Leila de Lima, calling her an “immoral woman,” her fellow Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan was one of the government officials who came to her defense.
In a statement posted on his official website, Pangilinan called Duterte’s remarks on de Lima “most unfortunate.”
“I am saddened by the latest incident and consider it most unfortunate considering that only the other week the President had in fact said publicly that Sen. De Lima was just doing her job,” he said.
“He even said that if he were in her position, he’d do the same thing and investigate the upsurge in drug-related killings,” he added in a statement.
Pangilinan called Duterte’s accusations against de Lima “unfair.
He went on to repeat what he previously said about the impact of Duterte’s public statements as the President of the country.
“May I reiterate my remarks when the President apologized for his “harsh words” against Chief Justice Sereno: that he is President of all 100 million plus Filipinos, and that his public statements – what he says and how he says it – affect all of us,” he said.
Pangilinan emphasized the need for “civility” and “due respect” in the midst of disagreements.
“I can understand that the President is hard-pressed to deliver on his campaign promise to rid the nation of the scourge of illegal drugs but there out to be a greater degree of civility in the face of disagreements between and amongst both branches of government,” he said.
“We should be able to perform our roles as servants of the people and accord each other due respect,” he added.
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Duterte defended de Lima
In a Rappler report, Duterte said that de Lima was simply doing her job as she pursued the Senate investigation on the government’s war against drugs.
“I do not blame de Lima, trabaho niya ‘yan eh,” he said on August 3 in his speech in Malacañang in front of election volunteers.
The President defended de Lima after Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said that she is welcome to start the probe on extrajudicial killings in mid-August.
Duterte added that if he were in the senator’s position, he would do the same.
“Kasi kung ako nandiyan, yayariin din kita,” he said.
His defense of de Lima was unexpected, given their history of exchanging words, such as him repeatedly calling her out for investigating his role in extrajudicial killings after supposedly failing to control the illegal drug trade in the New Bilibid Prison while serving as justice secretary.
Sources: (kikopangilinan.com, rappler.com)
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