VP Sara Duterte brands accusing lawmakers as 鈥榩roducts of warlordism鈥�
Vice President Sara Duterte. Inquirer photo.
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday fired back at lawmakers accusing her of running a “shame campaign” and being silent on maritime issues with China, tagging them as “mere products of warlordism” in the country.
Duterte was referring to Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong and House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V.
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Adiong accused Duterte of running a “shame campaign” and urged her to restore “decency, dignity, and civility” in the electoral campaigns; while Ortega questioned Duterte’s loyalty to the Philippines, as she has consistently been silent on the country’s maritime dispute with China despite continuously hurling attacks against other politicians.
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“Adiong is a product of warlordism here in Mindanao… So I don’t think he is the right person to talk about decency, dignity, and civility. His victory in Lanao is a result of the power held by their dynasty,” said Duterte, speaking in Filipino, in a chance interview in Kidapawan City.
“This Ortega is just like Adiong — a product of warlordism in our country. So it’s only right that he, too, should adopt a deafening silence because he has no right to open his mouth,” she added.
She further explained that she has no reason to “attack” China as she is campaigning for the electorate in the Philippines, and is therefore “pro-Philippines.”
“Don’t change the topic, boy. The topic is promises made and broken again and again,” she said to Ortega.
Duterte and lawmakers at the House of Representatives have been trading barbs since the lower chamber initiated an investigation into Duterte’s alleged misappropriation of public funds in the Department of Education and her office.
The friction between them reached its peak when Duterte was impeached at the House of Representatives level on February 5 — leaving a trial now pending before the Senate.
