Opposition Senator Leila de Lima on Tuesday, April 13, chided President Duterte for his recent tirades against her, saying it only highlights how the Chief Executive is more preoccupied with attacking her and his critics than resolving the rising COVID-19 infections and death toll in the country.
“Mr. President, maawa ka naman sa taumbayan. Namamatay na mga mahal nila sa buhay ako pa rin ang problema mo (Have some compassion for the people. Their loved ones are dying, and yet you’re still attacking me)?” De Lima said in her latest statement.
“Magtrabaho ka na lang Duterte. Kung nagtrabaho ka lang sana hindi tayo umabot sa ganito. Huwag ka na lang puro ngawngaw (Just do your work, Duterte. If you have been working hard, then we couldn’t have reached this stage. Don’t just go about hurling expletives),” she added.
In a pre-recorded briefing last April 12, Duterte released an expletive-laced statement against De Lima as he brought up again the current drug charges De Lima is facing.
The President’s verbal attack against De Lima came on the heels of her recent statements about his failure of leadership, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
She had also appealed to Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go to stop covering up for Duterte and misleading the people about his true capacity to lead the country.
This was after Go released undated photos of Duterte walking and on a bike, and a short clip showing the President jogging.
Earlier, De Lima demanded justice and accountability for all the Filipinos who succumbed to COVID-19, saying they deserve to ”seek justice for all the Filipino lives lost due to this administration’s deplorable incompetence, negligence and botched pandemic response.”
The opposition lawmaker had also taken a swipe at Duterte when the latter called her a “bitch” saying that he was merely using her as another diversionary tactic to cover up for his failures.