Senator and boxing champ Manny Pacquiao needs to “study first” before he criticizes foreign policies and inactions in the government, President Duterte said on Tuesday, June 8.
“I don’t want to degrade him, but next time he should—mag-aral ka muna nang husto bago ka pumasok (Study well first before you enter),” he told Kingdom of Jesus Christ Pastor Apollo Quiboloy during an interview on SMNI.
The Chief Executive said Pacquiao has a “very shallow knowledge” when it comes to issues of national concern.
The senator recently aired his grievances over seeming inactions in the government when it comes to pressing issues such as the power interruptions in Luzon. Last month, he also said he finds Duterte’s recent stance on Chinese incursions lacking.
Pacquiao, who is the president of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), which is also Duterte’s party, said during his privilege speech in the Senate that he is fed up with congressional hearings that do not result in specific actions.
“Sa totoo lang, napupuno talaga ako. Ayaw ko ‘yung mag-uusap tayo dito tapos pagkatapos ng hearing, lilipas na lang ‘yung taon, ilang taong lumipas ‘yung pinag-usapan na solution hindi man lang ginagawa (To be honest, I’m already fed up. I hate that we’d talk here and then after the hearing, years will just pass and the solution talked about was not even being implemented),” he added.
Nothing good comes out of the hearings because nothing is being done, Pacquiao said.
The senator is vocal about wanting to run as president next year, but he is up against another faction in his own party. Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi is on the other side, persuading presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio to be the party’s standard-bearer for the 2022 polls.
Meanwhile, Duterte also defended his foreign policy, which he described as “neutral.”
“Mas close ako sa Russia. Wala akong kilala sa Amerika (I am closer to Russia. I don’t know anyone in America),” the President said, citing that he has a good relationship with China.
The Philippines has always held friendly relations with the United States, but the Duterte administration put in limbo this relationship when the Chief Executive earlier warned the non-renewal of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
He is also a lot friendlier to China, even saying at some point that he loves Chinese President Xi Jinping and that the Philippines needs China more than anybody else even with the maritime issues in the West Philippine Sea.
“Ako, neutral in the sense that I do not favor one country for the other nor I would allow any of those countries to be in the Philippines to establish itong mga (these) military bases,” Duterte told Quiboloy.
The President said there are no strings attached to favors extended by Russia in providing rifles and heavy lift trucks.
“I would be telling a lie to the people if I say there was. Wala talaga (There really is none). Kung may (If there are) strings attached, I would not accept any,” he added.