SENATOR Richard Gordon on Tuesday has turned the tables and slammed President Rodrigo Duterte’s original remark back at him, challenging the Chief Executive to also “do [his] worst” after the latter’s relentless tirades against the Senate.
“Quite frankly, Mr. President, you are boring. Hindi ako natatakot sa inyo. Hindi po ako duwag [I’m not afraid of you, I’m not a coward]. Do your worst, Mr. President, as you did with ABS-CBN [operation shutdown]. Do your worst as you did with the senator who was elected by the people. I know you will try to do your worst, Mr. President, like [what] you did with Speaker Nograles before,” Gordon firmly dared.
Without revealing the lawmaker, Gordon cited how Senator Leila de Lima, Duterte’s unfazed critic, has been imprisoned in 2017, following allegations that she was involved in New Bilibid Prison’s illegal drug operations.
Gordon further vowed that he will face whatever criticisms and condemnation that Duterte would lash out at him, stressing that it is in the nature of the president to treat officials who oppose his rules in such ways.
“Kasi masakit kayo magsalita e. Saktan ninyo na ‘ko. Ang sabi niyo pa… My goodness. Akala ninyo ba matatakot ninyo ako? Pinatay na tatay ko, pinahirapan tatay ko, grinagranada, inaabangan. You think matatakot ako sa isang nilalang? Takot ako sa Diyos, takot ako sa tao, pero hindi ako duwag, Mr. President. You are a bully!” Gordon exclaimed.
“I’m sorry, Mr. President [but] the Filipino people can fight back against bullies. Filipinos can have a revolution against bullies,” he added, a remark that came as the country commemorates the 49th anniversary of the proclamation of Martial Law where a dictator’s regime fell from a bloodless revolution of Filipinos back in 1986.
The senator’s remark has surfaced during the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee’s hearing which he chairs, as investigation resumed to probe the government’s alleged mismanagement of funds in its procurement of overpriced COVID-19 medical supplies.
Gordon underscored that rather than lambasting the Senate and the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), the humanitarian organization he leads, Duterte should have diverted his focus on the welfare of the Filipinos by discussing in his national address the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its underlying issues including the unemployment growth across the country.
The legislator, moreover, urged Duterte to “do [his] job” as the chief executive of the country and as well as a lawyer whose profession is to shed light against injustices not to protect other nationalities but ultimately, the Filipinos.
“Atty. Duterte is lawyering for his people, the Chinese. And I ask him, respectfully, start lawyering for the Filipino people. Do your job, Mr. President,” Gordon stated.
“I’m not going to waste my time with you, Mr. President, because you’re no longer respectable as far as I’m concerned and as far as most of the Filipinos are concerned,” he added.
On September 11, Duterte has first asked Gordon to “do [his] worst” for he can—as he claimed—find “plenty of wrongs” against the senator as he kept on throwing blatant verbal assaults.
He also threatened that he would be forced to cut ties with the PRC, should they refuse to submit and allow the Commission on Audit (COA) to examine their financial records.
Duterte likewise ordered the Department of Health (DOH) to probe the alleged “false positive” results of COVID-19 tests conducted by the PRC.
Gordon has earlier said in defense that the organization is open to such investigation as they report all tests to the DOH and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).