Kiko: Attacks on Robredo, Jimenez aim to divert attention from Kuwait, DOT, WPS issues

Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan on Sunday said that recent attacks on Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo and former Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez are diversion tactics meant to take the public's attention away from pressing issues the administration is embroiled in.

"Inililihis nila ang atensyon ng sambayanan mula sa mga dapat na sagutin ng mga nasa kapangyarihan: ang nakakabahalang pangitain na mawalan ng trabaho ang mahigit 260,000 na mga OFW natin sa Kuwait, ang nakaambang na banta ng militarisasyon ng China sa ating teritoryo, at ang 60-milyong-pisong kontratang kinasasangkutan ni Tourism Secretary Wanda Tulfo-Teo at ng kanyang mga kapatid sa media," the Liberal Party President said in a statement.

President Rodrigo Duterte last month ordered a permanent ban on the deployment of Filipinos to Kuwait, where an estimated 260,000 Filipinos were working, with more than 65 percent of them domestic helpers.

Duterte ordered the ban after a diplomatic incident involving a video of Philippine embassy staff rescuing OFWs in the gulf state that resultd in Kuwait expelling Ambassador Renato Villa.

Last week, American news network CNBC reported that China has installed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on three disputed reefs in the West Philippine Sea.

The Commission on Audit (COA) has also flagged the P60 million worth of Department of Tourism (DOT) advertisements that aired on Teo's brother Ben Tulfo's program on PTV-4, Kilos Pronto.

"Huwag manlinlang. Harapin ang mga tanong ng taumbayan: Paano na ang kabuhayan ng 260,000 na OFW sa Kuwait? Paano na ang kaligtasan ng mga Pilipino sa pagsakop ng China sa mga islang atin talaga? Paano na ang pangakong lilipulin ang lahat ng magnanakaw sa kaban ng bayan?" Pangilinan said.

Pangilinan did not specify which attacks on Jimenez and the Vice President he was referring to, but the former is facing a graft complaint at the Sandiganbayan while Robredo's electoral win is currently being challenged by losing vice presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA News