Emergency powers for Duterte shouldn’t be default response to problems —Robredo

Granting emergency powers to President Rodrigo Duterte has become the “default” response to issues hounding the Philippines, Vice President Leni Robredo said Sunday.

A House panel earlier sought emergency powers for Duterte to address the multi-billion peso corruption controversy hounding the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).  

“Parang ngayon kasi, kapag may problema, default na—kapag may problema, instead na busisiin kung paano maaayos, parang default nang ‘Bigyan ng emergency powers.’ Hindi yata iyon iyong tamang paraan,” Robredo said in a her weekly radio show.

Duterte earlier sought emergency powers to solve the country’s transportation woes. In 2017, a lawmaker filed a bill seeking to grant him such powers anew

The president was also granted additional powers to address the COVID-19 threat.

Robredo pointed out that several legislators, including Senator Panfilo Lacson and Senate President Vicente Sotto III, have already agreed that Duterte does not need emergency powers to solve the PhilHealth mess. 

“Pero iyong sa akin, iyong PhilHealth kasi, sobra talagang nakakalungkot iyong nangyari, kasi pera iyon ng taumbayan eh. Pera iyon, galing iyon sa kontribusyon ng ordinaryong mga manggagawa, na kinakaltasan iyong suweldo buwan-buwan,” Robredo lamented.

“Iyon, para sa akin, unforgivable iyon, kasi—lalo pa kasi nangyari ito at a time na kailangan na kailangan natin ng PhilHealth, kasi ang dami ngang nagkakasakit,” she added. — BM, GMA News