Former president Rodrigo Duterte (Keith Bacongco/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Two members of the House "Young Guns" bloc are prodding former president Rodrigo Duterte to make good his threat of kicking congressmen, if he is "man enough".

But House Assistant Majority Leaders Zambales 1st district Rep. Jay Khonghun and La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V were quick to point out that Duterte won't be able to kick them if he keeps no-showing the hearings of the quad-committee (quad-comm).

The next hearing of the quad-comm--which is looking into the bloody drug war of the previous Duterte administration--has been set on Wednesday, Nov. 13.

“With all due respect Mr. [Duterte], don’t make any more excuses in not attending our hearings. Please make sure to be around on Wednesday, so that you can make true your threat to kick congressmen as you have repeatedly warned,” Khonghun said.

“Be here at the quad-comm hearing, and go ahead, kick us if that will make you happy. I’m very sure your supporters nationwide will also be watching on national TV or YouTube, ready to give you the loudest applause you want to hear,” he said.

We're not afraid of you

Ortega told the ex-president: “How can you kick us if you don’t physically attend the hearings? Be man enough to do it. I suppose you’re a man of your word."

“Don’t make empty threats. Please make no mistake: while we respect you, by no stretch of the imagination does this mean we’re afraid of you. Give us respect, too,” Ortega said.

He reminded the 79-year-old former leader that respect is a two-way street.

“Don’t be afraid to face us in quad-comm. You don’t have to worry, we will give you all the reasonable amount of respect you deserve being the former president. I, for one, will make that pledge in front of you and the nation if I have to.

“But this respect should be reciprocal: We will not and we will never allow you to bully us in our own House...You are our guest so please act like one," the La Union lawmaker said.

Expired mandate

The Young Guns solons also told the ex-president that while more than 16 million Filipino voters installed him in Malacanang in 2016, this simply means his mandate has already expired after serving his full six-year term until June 2022. 

“Mr. Duterte, please be reminded that while you still enjoy having Presidential Security Group (PSG) personnel, you are now – for all intents and purposes – a civilian who no longer carries that mandate. So, please act like a statesman if you want to be respected,” Khonghun added.