PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte is not keen on the idea of resigning just because two former government officials wanted him to, says presidential spokesperson Harry Roque who hinted at the administration’s critics as “wishful thinking” for something that is far from happening.
“Wishful thinking po ‘yan,” Roque said about the calls made by retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio last week. Carpio said Duterte dared the President to keep his word — to resign for falsely claiming that the former magistrate was involved in China’s 2012 seizure of Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
“Bilang pinuno ng bagong partido, siyempre gusto ni Justice Carpio na magresign ang Presidente dahil gusto niyang iyong kakampi niya ang makaupo para sa eleksyon e may tsansa ang mga kandidato n’ya, kundi siya mismo,” Roque told reporters in a press briefing.
Duterte last Wednesday challenged Carpio to a debate, which the latter accepted. However, the President backed-off and instead hinted at sending a proxy, who later turned out to be his spokesperson Roque.
In challenging Carpio to a debate, the President said he would ask the former justice who ordered the retreat of Philippine vessels from Scarborough shoal, what the Aquino administration did after, and whether or not the Philippines could enforce the 2016 arbitral award that junked Beijing’s claims to the waterway – and would “resign immediately” if his statements on the West Philippine Sea are false.
According to the retired magistrate, he “was never involved in the decision to withdraw Philippine Navy ships from the West Philippine Sea during the 2012 Scarborough standoff. I was serving in the Supreme Court at that time and all I knew about the withdrawal of Philippine Navy ships was what I read in the newspaper,” he said in a statement.
In response to Carpio’s statement, Roque said Duterte did not say Carpio was involved in the incident. Instead, he said the President linked former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario to the withdrawal.
“Ang punto po ng Presidente, ‘wag n’yong sasabihin na siya ang namimigay ng teritoryo dahil hindi po ‘yan nangyari sa kaniyang administrasyon. Tapos na ang boxing,” Roque said in a press briefing.
“Sa halos 5 taon na administrasyong Duterte, may nawala bang isla ang Pilipinas? Ang sagot: wala,” he added.