President Duterte reiterated his call to voters to remove Senate old-timers who supposedly have done nothing, saying he will release a cheat sheet of candidates people should vote for in May next year.
Duterte made the statement as he slammed the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee anew still on the issue of the supposed overpriced coronavirus (COVID-19) supplies that the government procured from pharmaceutical firm Pharmally last year.
In his pre-recorded public address on Monday evening, October 25, the President lamented how Filipinos never learned and still continue to elect the usual names in the Senate.
"Sabi ko na nga sa Filipino, ang tigas ng ulo ninyo, eh. Tanggalin na ninyo ‘yung matagal na diyan at walang ginagawa (I told Filipinos, you're so stubborn. Remove all the old-timers there who have done nothing)," he said.
According to the President, he will make a list of names whom people should vote for in the upcoming elections in May 2022 but it will still be up to the voters.
"Maggawa ako ng listahan kung sino ang dapat na ibalik ninyo (I will create a list of people whom you should vote for) before the elections," he said.
"Maniwala kayo, mabuti. 'Pag hindi, eh, buti makita mo rin ganoon rin ang laro ng Pilipinas (If you believe me, then good. If not, then you'll see the same Philippines again)," he added.
In his public address, President Duterte slammed senators for being arrogant as they continued to insist that there were irregularities in the government's procurement of COVID-19 supplies and equipment.
"The arrogance of power," he said.
"But you have failed to realize that because you have become unthinkingly enthusiastic proving that there are irregularities in the procurement done by government and this has been disproven and refuted," he added.
President Duterte has expressed his support to eight individuals who will form part of PDP-Laban's senatorial slate for the 2022 elections. These are:
- Former Information and Communications Secretary Gregorio Honasan III
- Former Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones
- Former Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo
- Former Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission Commissioner Greco Belgica
- Former public works secretary Mark Villar
- Sagip partylist Representative Rodante Marcoleta
- Veteran broadcaster Rey Langit
- Actor Robin Padilla