Saguisag regrets not ousting Duterte from law school

MANILA, Philippines — Former Senator Rene Saguisag said on Tuesday night that he regretted the decision of San Beda Law School not to expel then law student Rodrigo Duterte following a shooting incident with a classmate.

Saguisag said he voted to have Duterte ousted but was outvoted by the dean and the priest of the law school.

“I voted to expel him pero I was outvoted by the priest and the dean. Sabi nakakaawa naman, senior na. Pa-graduating na lang pero hindi pinag-martsa (They felt sorry for him since he was already a senior. It was decided to just let him graduate but not to allow him to march at the rites),” Saguisag recounted.

Duterte recounted the shooting incident during a campaign rally in April last year.

“I was a graduating student at San Beda when I shot a man,” then candidate Duterte said. “I waited for him. I told myself I’ll teach him a lesson.”

The former senator said that if Duterte had been disciplined, he would not be what he is today.

“Ito ang sabi ni Skinner: ‘You get more of the misconduct you don’t punish and more of the conduct you reward,’” Saguisag said, referring to the renowned behavioral psychologist B.F. Skinner.

He said that the chief executive treated life as cheap and did not have respect for human rights and human dignity.

Saguisag said that this incident could have made Duterte think that he could get away with anything that he would do. He said that this seemed to be the attitude of the president with regard to his bloody campaign against illegal drugs.

“Kasi ang tingin niya siguro he could get away with anything. That’s what’s happening now. Libu-libo ang natetepok,” the human rights lawyer said.

Duterte shot Octavio Goco, a classmate in law school, after the latter persistently teased him for being “probinsyano,” according to Saguisag.

Saguisag said that this incident showed early the “trigger happy” attitude of the president.

Citing a "source," Saguisag said Duterte meant to shoot Goco. This was contrary to the advice of his fraternity brothers who told him to report that it was an accident.

Saguisag, however, remained hopeful that Duterte would change course and discontinue the “disaster” that his government started in June last year.

“I remain hopeful that he will still change. Dahil his failure is your failure, his success will be everyone’s,” he said. “I hope he will review the past few months and change course where called for.”

Saguisag was speaking at the relaunch of the book “Conjugal Dictatorship” at the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Tuesday night.