Senator Leila de Lima said on Monday, May 10, that President Rodrigo Duterte proved to be a "loser" when he backed out of a prospective debate with former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio.

De Lima said it was clear Duterte realized he cannot take up the “gargantuan task” of defending his position on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue against the former Supreme Court magistrate who is a brilliant lawyer and a jurist.

“A debate demands preparation. If we were taught one thing in law school, it is not to come to class unprepared. As soon as we become lawyers, we carried this lesson, and remember not to come to court unprepared,” De Lima said in a statement.

“This is because both classroom and courtroom engagements are in themselves, debates, the former with the law professor, and the latter with opposing counsel and the judge,” she pointed out.

“No remarkable record as a law student and lawyer to speak of, Duterte must have realized that he cannot hack the gargantuan task that a debate of this nature entails,” the former justice secretary said.

She said Duterte’s move to squirm out of the debate and immediately appoint his presidential spokesperson Harry Roque to face off with the former SC associate justice, showed that the “fight was already over before it even began.”

“No one can be a loser more than someone who backs out of his own challenge. Appointing Roque as proxy is already irrelevant,” the vocal critic of the Duterte administration said.

“The nation expected no less than the President to stand up for his own treasonous conduct in a debate against Carpio, and not via a subaltern,” she added.

“This is not to say that Roque should not be given the chance to defend his own treasonous conduct. He must, but all in good time,” she pointed out.

De Lima further said Duterte automatically made a “concession” when he called on Roque to be represent him.

“By thus conceding, he has, in the minds of the Filipinos, bowed to Carpio’s victory without the latter even firing a shot, aside from merely accepting Duterte’s challenge,” she said.

“If it was a sports competition, Duterte in effect lost by default. Rather than expose the bankruptcy of his thoughts and the treason of his actions, Duterte chose to just minimize the damage of blasting off his brains by just cutting off his balls. But that too, has repercussions,” she reiterated.

“From now on, Duterte will no longer just run around like a headless chicken. He is simply a chicken,” De Lima stressed.