Presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Monday, July 5, described as “watusi,” a type of firecracker in the Philippines, the corruption allegations made by Senator Manny Pacquiao, who called on the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee to investigate at least four government agencies.
“Akala ko atom bomb, ‘yun pala watusi. Wala po. Walang kwenta. Kasi puro generalized allegations po. Walang bill of particulars. Walang specific instance. Walang ebidensya (I thought it’s an atom bomb, it’s just watusi. Nothing. It’s nothing. Because these are generalized allegations. No bill of particulars. No specific instance. No evidence),” the Palace official said.
Watusi is a type of firecracker sold in the streets that make a crackling noise when scratched along the ground.
Roque challenged Pacquiao to prove such allegations. Otherwise, he’s really just politicking, the spokesperson said.
He also chided the boxer-turned-senator for leaving for the United States to train for his fight with Errol Spence on August 21. Pacquiao is aiming for the 31-year-old’s World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation bantamweight crowns.
“Gaya nga po nang sinabi ni Senator Gordon, paano naman ‘yan magpapaimbestiga sila sa Senado kung wala ‘yung proponent. Sino magtatanong? Hindi po ganyan ang trabaho ng Senado. Dapat po ayusin muna niya bilang isang senador (Like what Senator Gordon said, how will they investigate without the proponent? Who will do the questioning? That’s not how it works in the Senate. He should work on it first as a senator),” Roque said.
Gordon earlier wondered the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, which he chairs, will open an investigation into the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) if Pacquiao already left to train for his fight.
READ: Pacquiao tags DSWD in corruption, cites ₱10.4-B 'missing' SAP funds
President Duterte, who has lately been in a word war with the senator, also castigated him for being “absent.”
His spokesperson said Pacquiao did not send Malacañang a copy of the list of the supposed corrupt agencies, but just immediately left for his training.
He also seemed to thumb down the senator’s offer to meet Duterte. Pacquiao earlier asked the Chief Executive to calm down, insisting that he isn’t looking for a fight but merely wants to help him rid his government of corruption.
“Hindi ko pa alam kung ano pa ang pag-uusapan nila ni Presidente eh nauna na po siyang nagbitaw ng mga salita sa media. Kung gusto talaga niyang makipag-usap kay Presidente, dapat hindi muna niya inuna ang media (I don’t know what he and the President will talk about when he was the first to utter a word before the media. If he really wanted to talk with the President, he shouldn’t have talked with the media),” Roque said.
Duterte’s and Pacquiao’s word war seems to be drawing to a collision even though it started within their own Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) between the senator and Duterte ally, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.