Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV is “free to dream” if he wants to become the next President of the Republic, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Thursday.
“Una, libreng mangarap, hayaan nating mangarap na maging presidente si dating Senador Trillanes, karapatan po niya yan bilang isang Pilipino (First, it’s free to dream, let us allow former Senator Trillanes to dream of becoming president, that’s his right as a Filipino),” Roque said during his regular press briefing.
Roque was reacting to reports that Trillanes is gunning for the 2022 presidential race should Vice President Leni Robredo decides not to run for president.
Roque believes that the former senator may not be able to run for president at all since the Vice President’s plan to seek a higher post is “still there.”
“Pangalawa, mukhang di naman siya makakatakbo dahil nilinaw naman po ni Vice President Leni na tatakbo pa rin siya, at least nandyan pa rin yung plano (Second, it seems he cannot even run because Vice President Leni clarified that the plan is still there),” the President’s spokesman said.
In announcing his intention to seek the highest post of the land, Trillanes said the Filipino people will no longer be able to survive “another six years of a Duterte rule”.
He accused the Duterte administration of destroying the institutions, worsened the economy and “promoted incompetence in public service”.
Roque, however, dismissed all the accusations of Trillanes as pure “nonsense”.
“Pangatlo, wala pong katuturan yung sinasabi niyang survival dahil wala pong isyu na di po tayo magwawagi laban sa covid19. At wala pong kahit anong banta laban sa ating mga institusyon na demokrasya (Third, the survival he is talking about is nonsense because there is no issue that we will not be able to win against COVID-19. And there is no threat against our democratic institutions),” the Palace official said.
On the threat of Trillanes that he will send Duterte to jail for the killings of hundreds of people under his bloody “war on drugs campaign should he win in 2022, Roque dared the former legislator to file charges against the President instead of merely yakking.
“Kung meron po siyang kasong maihahain dapat ihain na niya. Ang problem kay Senator Trillanes dakdak din ng dakdak. Kasi kung meron po siyang ebidensya na merong pinapatay ang president dapat hinain na niya po ngayon. (If he has any case to file he should file it now. The problem with Senator Trillanes is he just keeps on yakking. If he has any evidence that the President had ordered someone killed, he should file it now),” Roque said.