President Duterte continued to play hardball with the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee as he announced the issuance of a memorandum enforcing his earlier pronouncement to personally clear invites for his Cabinet members to attend the panel’s hearings.
Duterte even made sure to show his actual signing of the memo during the airing of his pre-taped "Talk to the People" public briefing on late Monday night, Oct. 4.
It was two weeks ago when Duterte first said that he would require prior clearance from his Cabinet officials before they could attend the hearings, the conduct of which are being led by his nemesis, Senator Richard Gordon.
As far as the Chief Executive is concerned, the Blue Ribbon panel's public inquiry--particularly on the government’s alleged purchase of overpriced coronavirus disease (COVID-19) supplies last year through Pharmally Pharmaceuticals, is a waste of time.
"I have issued a memorandum...because we cannot allow blatant disrespect of resource persons of the ongoing hearings of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. Gordon, you are not God and you cannot play God. You cannot continue this hearing 'till Kingdom Come. You are not a senator forever and the time of reckoning will come," he said.
"You and the Senate cannot compromise the Senate's COVID-19 response by getting agency leaders tied up for so long at your beck and all. Again if you think you have enough evidence against Pharmally to support your allegations, go ahead and file case against them at the proper courts. The Senate is not a criminal court," Duterte said.
For Cabinet members who end up attending the hearings and getting berated by senators, Duterte gave this advice: stand up and leave.
"If you are stopped and arrested by the sergeant-at-arms upon an order of any senator, just say 'OK, I'll just call,' or somebody will call headquarters. And that headquarters will call me, and I will go there to get you," he said, reiterating an earlier promise to his officials.
But Duterte drew a line on the sand Monday in case such confrontation between the two separate branches of government gets a bit too rough.
"Hindi ako magdala ng sundalo, hindi ako magdala ng pulis. Basta pupunta ako doon, pipilitin kong papasukin. Ngayon, kung masaktan ako, ibang istorya na yan (I won't bring any soldier or cop. I'll just go there and force them to let me in. Now, if I get hurt that's a different story).
"Kung magpipilit ako pumasok doon, kayo rin nag-umpisa ng gulo, eh di tignan natin. Tignan natin (If I force my way in there, let's see since you started the trouble anyway. Let's see) how powerful you think you are. Maybe it's high time na ilagay kayo doon sa tamang pwesto sa buhay (that you get put in your proper place in life)," he said.
Duterte reiterated that the Senate inquiry has failed to produce any proof of corruption in connection with the government's deals with Pharmally.
"The executive branch of government merely did its job for immediate pandemic response and there was no iota of evidence of overpricing or money lost to corruption," he said.