Duterte to Poe: Watch my mouth? No, you watch your mouth

President Rodrigo Duterte hit back at Senator Grace Poe for telling him to be watchful of his language after he cursed his predecessor, former President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III over the latter's criticisms against the administration's controversial anti-drug war.

In a speech during his visit to the Joint Special Operations Task Force Trident at Barangay Kilala, Marawi City on Friday, Duterte told Poe to shut her mouth, adding that the lawmaker has no idea where he is coming from.

"At sabihin pa ni Grace na 'watch your mouth.' You take care of your... You take care of your mouth, and I will take care of mine because my mouth is not for your mouth. Tahimik ka lang diyan kasi hindi mo naintindihan from where of I stand," Duterte said.

On Thursday, Poe reminded Duterte to keep it "SPG," referring to "Strong Parental Guidance," one of the classification ratings she introduced during her previous stint as chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

However, she did not categorically say that the President should "watch his mouth."

Gunggong

During his latest visit to Marawi, Duterte lashed out again at Aquino for saying that his war on drugs has yet to yield positive results.

"Pero tinanong siya about the drug operation at ang sinabi niya, 'wala namang nangyari, mag-iisang taon na,'" he said. "Alam mo ang retort ko sa kanya, I answered back, 'Napakagunggong mo naman.'"

"You know, in the number of killed, I have lost sa aking pulis, almost a total of 81 drug-related, ‘yung 17 dito," he added.

The chief executive said that Aquino's statement of "parang wala yatang nangyari" was insulting, saying that several policemen and soldiers lost their lives during the current administration's war against drugs.

"So tapos i-belittle mo na walang nangyari? Masakit naman ‘yan," he said. "Eh ang rami kong sundalong namatay. Wounded sa pulis 231, drug-related — 77 dito, Marawi 36."

"Itong Marawi nag-umpisa ito sa drug operation. Now, when you say 'walang nangyari,' nakaka-insulto ‘yan. And I am very sensitive sa ganitong issue kasi marami na ang pulis pati sundalo ko namatay," he added.

"So if you are careless, magsabi ka, 'walang nangyari,' talagang mag-init ang bunganga ko. Kaya huwag ninyong, sabi ko basta-basta na lang magsalita because you don’t know the real score," Duterte said.

Duterte also criticized the Aquino administration's record against drugs, boasting that his own administration was able to seize about P18.52 billion worth of illegal drugs in just a year.

"‘Yung collection ko sa shabu, sa one year, I got about... Ang kanyang sa — the entire 6 years niya — ah one year, they only — they’re able to get P4 billion. Sa one year ko, nung matatapos na ako, nung one year na ako, I confiscated or seized P18.52 billion," Duterte said.

"Kaya naiinsulto ako. Marami akong namatay pero marami rin akong nakuha but at the cost of the lives of my soldiers and police. Kaya ang sagot ko medyo balabag. Sabi ko, 'Napakagunggong mo naman,'" he added.

Aquino had previously defended his administration's record against drugs, noting that the number of drug users didn't increase during his tenure.

'Very sensitive ako'

Meanwhile, Duterte said Aquino, as a former chief executive himself, could have just urged the public to be vigilant, instead of criticizing the government's efforts against the illegal drug trade.

"That was the reaction of the... Hindi magandang ano ‘yan — and ex-President siya. He can just say, 'Well, the battle is a continuing one. It would never stop but we have to continue to be vigilant,' Hindi ba ganun?" Duterte said.

"So ‘yun ang ano ko lang kasi puro kami presidente baka narinig rin ninyo, eh ayaw ko ng ganon eh. Very sensitive ako diyan sa issue ng kagaya ng mga sundalo ko pati pulis," he added.

Duterte on Friday visited the embattled city of Marawi for the second time. He earlier tried to visit Marawi but it was only on his third attempt on July 20 that the finally succeeded. — MDM, GMA News