Gordon to Duterte: Tell your appointees to answer overpriced pandemic supplies issue

After President Rodrigo Duterte’s tirades, Senator Richard Gordon on Tuesday told the chief executive to direct his appointees to answer the issues on procurement of overpriced pandemic supplies.

In a virtual press conference, Gordon said he forgives the President for his personal attacks against him.

“That’s alright. I forgive you…Mr. President, you are sworn to protect and observe the Constitution and the laws… Now forgive me if I offend you. Well, that’s alright. You know why I forgive you? You go into personal attacks. Alam ko mahina ang taong nag-aatake nang personal (Only weak people resort to personal attacks),” Gordon said.

“That is the refuge of the scoundrel, Mr. President, and I don’t think that you are a scoundrel, Mr. President.  I’m just quoting. Ang sabi mo nga, mahilig ako mag-talkathon (As you’ve said, I am fond of these talkathons),” he added.

The senator, however, questioned Duterte’s anti-corruption drive after the President slammed the Commission on Audit and the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.

“'Di ko maintindihan ang Presidente natin. Sabi n'ya against coruption siya. Kilala ko naman s'ya. So I’m following his dictum, na pag may corrupt, dapat labanan. Wala pa naman tayong sinasabing korapsyon, nag-iimbestiga pa lang tayo. The nature of the Blue Ribbon is to investigate. At kung mag-iinvestigate tayo, dapat ginagawa natin ang homework natin,” Gordon pointed.

(I can’t understand our President. He claims he is against corruption. I know him. So, I’m following his dictum that if there’s corruption, we should fight it. We are not saying there’s already corruption. We are still investigating. The nature of the Blue Ribbon is to investigate. And if we investigate, we should do our homework.)

“Mr. President, I advise you as a friend if you still consider me your friend, pasagot ninyo sa mga bata ninyo ‘yung issue. Bakit ninyo tatawaging mataba ako? Alam ko pong mataba ako, para naman tayong nagpapagandahan na lalaki, palagay ko mananalo naman ako sa inyo pagka nagpagandahang lalaki tayo,” he said at one point of the interview.

(Mr. President, I advise you as a friend if you still consider me your friend, let your appointees answer the issue. Why did you call me fat? I know I am fat but we are not in a pageant. I think I will still win against you when it comes to looks.)

Gordon said he is not “shaken” by the personal attacks.

“He doesn’t answer the critique or the observations,” he said.

Furthermore, the lawmaker told the President that it will be a “mistake” if he will advise his Cabinet members not to attend the Senate investigations.

“He is a lawyer, he should understand that. He was a fiscal for a long time. If he doesn’t understand that, then he’s a poor lawyer,” Gordon added.

In a taped address, Duterte said he might bar his Cabinet men from attending congressional investigations.

Duterte also slammed Gordon over the seven-hour “talkathon” in the last Senate Blue Ribbon committee investigation into the alleged overpriced pandemic supplies.

“Makita mo si Gordon sa mga TV, sa committee hearing marami ang congressman [senador] pag roll call. Dahan-dahan yan mawala kasi si Gordon ang champion noon… Siya ang nanalo sa talkathon,” he said.

He also tagged Gordon as a  German interrogator from the Nazi and told the senator to lose weight.

The President further advised the public not to re-elect congressmen and senators who are allegedly using their position to investigate and “show off" their knowledge.

The Senate is currently investigating the Department of Budget and Management-Procurement Service’s procurement of overpriced face shields and face masks in 2020 which were flagged by the Commission on Audit.

Among the personalities being interpellated in the Senate was resigned Budget Undersecretary Christopher Lloyd Lao who headed the DBM-PS when the government procured the overpriced pandemic supplies.

Lao is also in hot waters for awarding multi-billion contracts to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation—a firm that has P625,000 paid-up capital.

In the last Senate hearing on the overpriced face masks, Gordon played an RTVM footage showing Duterte having a meeting with former presidential adviser Michael Yang and Pharmally officials.

Duterte has defended Yang, saying the Chinese businessman has been conducting business in the country for around two decades.—AOL, GMA News