Detained Senator Leila de Lima on Wednesday slammed President Duterte for his latest tirade against Vice President Leni Robredo, saying that telling the second highest official of the land to die is extremely “vile and evil.”
“Duterte wishing VP Leni dead is no damn joke! It is exceedingly vile and evil, satanic and stupid, and extremely unpresidential,” De Lima said in statement.
“The Office of the President is the primary implementer of the Constitution's design, not a murderer's evil desire,” she further stressed.
The Palace earlier stood by Duterte’s tirade against the vice president following her insistence that the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine should be first endorsed by the Health Technology Assessment Council (HTAC). Duterte also dared Robredo to “go shop for COVID-19 vaccines” as the Chief Executive lamented how rich countries in the West have been cornering supplies of the vaccines, making it difficult for the Philippines and other poorer nations to secure doses.
The President’s latest rant happened after the government formally received the 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines, which arrived in the Philippines on Sunday, Feb. 28.
De Lima, a vocal critic of the Duterte administration, said she believes his death wish for the vice president was “no Freudian slip.” But even then, De Lima pointed out the President should merely focus on addressing the country’s COVID-19 crisis, instead of bashing Robredo.
“Nasa gitna pa tayo ng pandemya, eleksyon na inaatupag n'yo (We’re still in the middle of a pandemic, yet you’re thinking of the upcoming elections),” she said.
“Napakalaki ng naitutulong ni VP Leni at ng Opisina ng Pangalawang Pangulo upang hindi tuluyang mawalan ng pag-asa ang mga Pilipino at malugmok ang Pilipinas (The Office of the Vice President has done so much for the country so as not to erode the hopes and dreams of the Filipinos),” she stressed.