Former Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon did not mince words as he looked back at the reign of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte FPRRD during a recent interview with ‘Facts First’.
Gordon said that Duterte’s time in office was a dictatorship masquerading as democracy and that he ruled with an iron fist.
Everyone feared the Duterte family as they bore witness to how perceived ‘enemies’ of the administration were eliminated and silenced and how alleged drug pushers or addicts lost their lives.
But now, the Quad Committee investigations have unearthed and exposed some of the most gruesome and dirtiest crimes known to the Filipino people and overwhelming evidence shows that these were committed while FPPRD was the sitting President.
Supposedly operations to rid the country of heinous crimes, the extrajudicial killings, money laundering, human trafficking, distribution and supply of dangerous drugs, graft and corruption, among others – some of which are connected to the operation of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (“POGOs”) have taken place and according to Gordon, it is difficult to believe that FPRRD did not have a hand in them.
Sen. Gordon, former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, additionally stated that Duque could not have transferred the P41.46 billion Covid-19 funds (subject of a graft case against him) without the permission of the administration.
Gordon also chided Sara Duterte’s behavior during the budget hearing which, according to him. shows that she had not learned anything in law school, did not respect the Congressmen and her office and is very clearly hiding something, describing her as “very arrogant, insulting and acting like the spoiled brat that she is”
“She looks like she still believes that the world revolves around her and her family,” he notes.
The Dutertes were placed on a pedestal by the Filipino people during the past administration, as it vowed to rid the Philippines of drugs and graft and corruption.
Now, as circumstances would have it, they are being asked to explain their connections to all of the allegations being leveled against them.
While the former President has apparently preferred secrecy to transparency and confidential funds to properly allocated budgets, VP Sara refuses to answer the Congressmen’s queries.
The lawyer-allies of the Dutertes, former spokesman Harry Roque and Salvador Panelo, are being weighed down by problems of their own and may not be able to defend them this time.
As the nation looks ahead to the midterm elections next year, rumors swirl not only about former President Duterte’s possible return to politics but also about VP Sara’s bid for the presidency.
If true, these alleged ambitions to cling to power are a slap in the face to the very people they claim to serve, considering the scandals surrounding them.
These are also an alarming sign that the Dutertes refuse to let go of their grip on the nation.
