Duterte fires back at Aquino, Poe over drug war, cursing criticisms

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is not yet through blasting his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, following the ex-president’s critical comments on his drug war, but he also hit Sen. Grace Poe Monday for admonishing him for cursing the former president.

Duterte said that Aquino’s remarks on the government’s war on drugs, his priority domestic program, shows that the former leader was “bereft of emotional stability.”

The president said that he was really sensitive to comments or statements on his war on drugs as it has already claimed the lives of dozens of security personnel. He said that he bore the responsibility for their deaths as he was the one who ordered their operations.

“That, I said, is a very sensitive issue to me because I ordered the raids at namatay yung mga pulis ang sundalo ko. Kaya ako galit pagka-gawin mo lang small time yang... Buhay ang nakataya diyan, Noynoy, kaya nagalit ako sa’yo,” Duterte said.

He also questioned Aquino’s record on drugs as he claimed that many of the former president’s generals were involved in the trade of narcotics.

“Ikaw lang ang presidente na may mga generals na nakasabit sa droga tapos magsalita ka ng ganun. Bigyan mo ako ng generals na nakasabit ng ganun, putulan ko ng ulo yan sa harap mo,” Duterte said, resorting to his usual tough talking.

He said that Aquino was insensitive to have claimed that nothing had changed in his first year in office.

“Kaya huwag ka magsalita ng ‘Ah walang nangyari.’ Sabi ko, gunggong ka. Bakit ka magsabi ng ganun? Bakit ikaw wala ka kasing emotion. When a person is bereft of emotional stability, ganun magsalita,” he said.

Duterte was reacting to the statement of Aquino that the number of drug users during his last year in office was similar to the number recorded during the president’s first year.

This is already the third occasion when the president blasted the former president over the statement.

Poe’s admonishment of the president’s cussing also did not sit well with the chief executive.

He said that if the Filipino people want someone who’s “prim and proper” she should have won as she was moneyed and supported by the Catholic Church.

“Nagmumura na ako noong kampanya, sobra pa. Double the vulgarity of everything. Alam na ng tao yan na nagmumura ako. Ngayon masama ang bunganga ko, masama ang ugali ko, nag-eleksyon tayo, saan ka pinulot? Di Number Four. Sinong Number One? Ako,” he said.

Poe placed third behind Duterte and former Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas. Duterte did not win a majority of votes in last year’s election.

The president said that Poe won a Senate seat only because of her father, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. who unsuccessfully sought the presidency in 2004.

“You had the money, you had the aura of... father mo lang naman yung nag-senador sa’yo. Yung lang ang capital mo,” he said of Poe, a former chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

The president was visibly irate with Poe that he even claimed that the senator was a heavy smoker and drinker, something that many Filipinos do not know, he said. Neither are illegal activities.

Poe rebuked Duterte after he cursed his predecessor for his drug war criticism.