Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque taunted opposition senators on Wednesday, Sept. 1, calling them "desperate" as the latter continue to make noise about the purchase of alleged overpriced personal protective equipment (PPEs) by the current administration.
During Wednesday's virtual press briefing from Malacañang, Roque noted that President Duterte is not even a reelectionist in the May 2022 national elections, and yet the administration critics have been busy doing their thing.
"Desperado po ang oposisyon; gumagawa po ng issue laban sa administrasyon maski hindi naman po magre-reelection ang ating Presidente (The opposition is desperate; they are creating an issue against the administration even if the President isn't seeking reelection)," he said.
Roque then delivered a zinger by reminding the opposition of its forgettable participation in the previous 2019 local polls.
"Pero siguro ginagawa nila ito para hindi ma-Otso Diretso ang kanilang mga senador (Maybe they're doing this to avoid getting the same fate as Otso Diretso for their senators)," he said.
Otso Diretso, which translates to straight eight, was the senatorial slate formed by coalesced opposition factions after the first three years of President Duterte's term.
The slate is ignominious for failing to win even a single seat in the 2019 Senate race. According to Wikipedia, this was the first time in the history of the current bicameral composition of the Philippine Congress (House of Representatives and Senate) under the 1987 Constitution that the opposition failed to win a seat in one of the chambers, and the first time since the 1938 election that the opposition failed to win a single seat in a legislative election.
Roque brought up during the briefing the alleged purchase of more expensive PPEs by the previous Aquino administration, when there was no coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. He said the absence of a pandemic should have led to lower prices, since there was no great demand for PPEs at that time.
Duterte critics and senators Franklin Drilon and Risa Hontiveros are both allies of the previous administration, the Palace official said.
'Wag po tayong magpadala sa mga politikong maagang namumulitika (Let's not be distracted by politicians who want to play politics early)," Roque said.
President Duterte has said that he would vie for the vice presidency next year. The Constitution prevents him from running for president after his current six-year term.