J M
- Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque stated that President Duterte will not apologize regarding his remarks against Vice President Robredo.
- Roque added that Lorenzana and Panelo should be the ones to apologize, but not the President as he did nothing wrong.
President Rodrigo Duterte will not apologize for his attacks against Vice President Leni Robredo, the Palace said.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque defended Duterte and said that he has the right to express his disappointment with Robredo whom he accused of acting like she was in charge of the government amid relief operations for the victims of Typhoon Ulysses. Roque added that it was “not unpresidential” of Duterte to act as such.
“Unang-una, hindi naman sinabi ni Presidente sumakay siya ng C-130 eh. Hindi naman sinabi ni Presidente na pinalabas niya na iyon laman ng C-130 eh dala-dala ni VP Leni. Eh bakit siya manghihingi ng abiso? Humihingi na ng abiso iyong mga nagsabi noon – si Secretary [Delfin] Lorenzana at saka si Secretary [Salvador] Panelo,” the spokesperson said.
He even added that Lorenzana and Panelo should be the ones to apologize but not the President as he did nothing wrong.
“Dapat silang humingi kung sila’y nagkamali dahil sila ang nagkamali pero hindi po ang Presidente. Bakit naman hihingi ng abiso ang Presidente na wala siyang pagkakamali?”
When asked if the President’s rants against Robredo were sighs of insecurity, Roque answered that it was simply just him expressing his sentiments against his critics who accused him of being absent during the calamity.
Roque added that the government was on top of the situation as he already gave orders for agencies to prepare for the typhoon even before it hits, but Robredo made it appear like the forces of the government wouldn’t move without her orders.
“Wala namang pagbabawal sa Presidente na ilabas ang kaniyang saloobin. At saka ulitin ko po, ang konteksto kasi iyong talagang pinakakalat ng supporters sa oposisyon nasaan si Presidente,” Roque defended Duterte.
“Consistent po ang behavior ng Presidente. Is that unpresidential? I don’t think so because 91% of the people have said that they trust and they believe that the President is performing well in his duties. Is it unpresidential? According to 91% of our people, no. According to 5%, including the Vice President, yes.”
On the other hand, Panelo and Lorenzana apologized to the Vice President for false information made against her. However, Panelo did make it clear that his apology was only for expressing his remarks regarding information he got that was later proven false.
“The information did not come from me, I was only reacting [to] that information. That is why I apologized to her for reacting on wrong info,” Panelo said in an interview with ABS-CBN.
“I’m not apologizing for distributing or peddling false info. Because I was only expressing a reaction on the basis of that info that I thought was correct.”
