Metro Manila, Philippines – Former President Rodrigo Duterte was “best dramatic actor” in the House probe on his bloody drug war, his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, said on Friday, Nov. 15.
In a chance interview at the sidelines of the agency’s 89th anniversary, the vice president said her father’s performance was a “12” in a range of 1 to 10. She did not elaborate. The vice president attended the House inquiry unannounced on Wednesday after defending her budget proposal at the Senate.
“Usually kasi hindi siya nakikinig sa mga kasama niya so humihingi sila ng tulong sakin na kung anong isabi, pagsabihan,” she said.
[Translation: The former president doesn’t usually listen to his companions so they asked me to help him on what to say.]
‘Deflecting attention’
France Castro, a Duterte critic and ACT Teacher’s party-list representative, said the vice president’s statement was a move to deflect public attention. “The former president may be ‘the best dramatic actor’ as his daughter claims, but the thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings deserve justice, not theatrics,” Castro was quoted as saying in a press release.The lawmaker said the former president’s statements must be reviewed thoroughly.“Hindi pwedeng basta tanggapin ang mga salita nila dahil malinaw na sila ay handang magsabi ng kahit ano para maprotektahan ang kanilang interes,”[Translation: We cannot simply accept their words because it is clear that they are willing to say anything to protect their interests.]Meanwhile, House quad committee co-chairperson Dan Fernandez, himself an actor-turned-politician, said the former president was not a dramatic actor as he was an “action star beating everybody else.”
During the hearing, Duterte dared the International Criminal Court (ICC) to come to the Philippines and investigate his supposed crimes against humanity. The former president instigated the country’s exit from the Rome Statute, which created the ICC.
The former president also had a heated exchange with his critics, including former Sen. Sonny Trillanes whom he attempted to hit with a microphone.
