Sara Duterte defends Escudero on claim he’s scared of her: He’s not afraid
Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Vice President Sara Duterte (Photos from NIÑO JESUS ORBETA and GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE)
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte defended Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero, disputing the allegation that the delay in her impeachment trial in the Senate is due to his fear of her.
Duterte made the pronouncement after Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña on Tuesday asked Escudero if he was afraid of Duterte.
The question was raised after the Senate once again rescheduled the presentation of Articles of Impeachment from June 2 to June 11.
READ: House member asks Escudero: Are you afraid of Sara Duterte?
“Well, based on how I know Senate President Chiz Escudero, he’s not someone who gets scared,” Duterte said in a chance interview in The Hague.
“We don’t remember him as… I don’t know him to be the kind of politician who gets frightened,” the vice president recalled.
“So I really don’t know where the claims that Sen. Chiz Escudero is afraid are coming from. I have no idea where that’s coming from,” she said.
Meanwhile, Escudero, shrugged off the insinuation, calling it nothing but a “trap.”
READ: Escudero says he’ll do what’s right, what’s in the law amid criticisms
He, however, did not specifically say what he was being lured into by such an allegation.
Escudero just maintained that the chamber is doing its duty, even after critics—both former and incumbent lawmakers alike—accused him of supposedly abandoning the constitutional duty of the Senate./apl
