Duterte resumes attack on Otso Diretso candidates

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday accused opposition senatorial bets of resorting to mudslinging to shore up their candidacies.

Speaking at the PDP-Laban campaign rally in Bangued, Abra, Duterte said the opposition hinged their victory "on how they attack people and the propensity to paint you in another dimension."

"Kaya ‘yung opposition mautak man sana but their penchant to be just at the other side, lulubugin mo lang eh," Duterte said.

"Itong mga kandidato na ito, they want to appear white. 'Kami puti, malinis.' So ‘yung kalaban niya pinturahan niya ng itim. You’ll just paint your opponent black and you appear white. Ganon talaga.  And sadly, sayang ‘yung utak nila. At ‘yung iba naman walang ginawa," Duterte said.

Duterte on Tuesday continued to question the capabilities of the members of the opposition senatorial slate.

Just like in Zamboanga City on Sunday, Duterte limited his criticism to the seven male candidates of the Otso Diretso slate.

He had spared Marawi civic leader Samira Gutoc from his verbal attacks because he said it was his “rule” not to say anything bad to a female foe.

"Alam mo ‘yang re-electionist ‘yung Otso Diretso sa impyerno. Tingnan mo nga ang mga kandidato. Hindi ako nagiinsulto. Tingnan mo ang kandidato nila," Duterte said in a speech at the PDP-Laban campaign rally in Bangued, Abra.

Duterte said former Interior Secretary Manuel "Mar" Roxas II "got into the wrong company" since former Deputy Director General Marcelo Garbo Jr., a former police aide of Roxas, is allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade.

The president asked what former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay had accomplished. As for Romulo Macalintal, Duterte said the election lawyer only filed cases against government officials. 

"Hilbay, anong ginawa ni Hilbay? Si Macalintal, 'yung abugado na pamarunong-marunong. Anong ginawa niyan kung hindi magdemanda ng mga opisyal?" Duterte said.

He said Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV was all talk with no concrete accomplishment to show.

"Bam Aquino, sige lang daldal, wala man ring iniwan na maganda. Wala naman. Hanapbuhay? Hindi kanya 'yan," Duterte said.

Duterte said human rights lawyer Jose Manuel "Chel" Diokno cannot measure up to his father, the late Senator Jose W. Diokno.

"Hindi ito nagmana sa tatay. Ang tatay nito tigas. Si W. Diokno, ‘yon ang talagang saludo ako. Pero itong si Chel Diokno, walang ginawa ito kung hindi mag-participate ng rally. Sino palang maligayahan niyan?" he said.

He also criticized Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano and accused former Quezon Representative Erin Tañada of being a lawyer of communists.

"Wala 'yang trabaho kung hindi counsel ng mga komunista. Walang ginawa. Anong ginawa ni Tañada?" he said.

Otso Diretso candidates earlier hit back at Duterte's tirades and reminded him that it is the job of the opposition to oppose to stand against the wrongdoings of the government.

In the same speech, Duterte hit out at detained Senator Leila De Lima, one of his staunchest critics.

"Kay ambisyosa lang at marunong lumusot. Kaya she’s painting everybody in town black so that she will appear a Virgin Mary," the President said as he tapped the microphone several times to bring up the supposed sex video featuring De Lima and her alleged paramour. 

"Pero high ka, may tape na… What a hypocrisy."

He then slammed foreign organizations that recognized De Lima, who is on trial for alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade, as a human rights defender.

"Tapos itong mga left naman sa labas panay ang award nila. Ako deretsuhin na lang natin. Kung mamatay si Virgin Mary, siya na ang ipalit natin," Duterte said, drawing laughter from the audience.

De Lima has been detained since February 2017 on allegations she allowed the illegal drug trade to proliferate inside the New Bilibid Prison when she was Justice secretary in exchange for funds for her senatorial campaign in 2016.

The senator denied the charges which she attributed to her opposition to Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs which has already killed more than 5,000 drug suspects since he assumed office in June 2016.

Her incarceration, however, did not stop her from commenting on national issues as she had repeatedly released written dispatches. —NB, GMA News