PRESIDENT Duterte on Tuesday night accused his party mate, Sen. Manny Pacquiao, and his staunch critic, former senator Antonio Trillanes IV, of wanting to “hold power” to gain more “opportunities” for themselves.
Duterte has been attacking Pacquiao recently over the boxer-turned-senator’s allegations of corruption in government.
Trillanes has long been accusing Duterte of corruption.
“Si Trillanes, pareha ni Pacquiao iyan…They want to… hold power because they must have, may nakita siguro silang magandang oportunidad nila para sa kanila (Trillanes is the same as Pacquiao…They want to… hold power because they must have, they saw a good opportunity for themselves),” the President said in his weekly Talk to the People address.
Duterte recently dared Pacquiao to submit a list of agencies and personalities in government that are involved in corruption, and to prove his allegations and threatened to exposed the senator as a liar if he fails to.
Trillanes on Tuesday accused the President and his long-time aide, now Sen. Christopher Go, of plundering P6 billion through government projects in the Davao region, which were awarded to Go’s father and brother in law when Duterte was still mayor of Davao City.
The President told chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo to handle Trillanes because the former lawmaker is all talk and cannot compete in a debate.
Trillanes has declared his intention to run for president as opposition candidate next year while Pacquiao is widely known to be eyeing the presidency but has not made any declaration.
A faction of the ruling PDP-Laban is asked Duterte to run for vice president in 2022, and allowed him to choose who will be the party’s presidential candidate. Duterte is the chairman of PDP-Laban while Pacquiao is president or acting president, depending on which camp is talking. Pacquiao and his supporters in the party have opposed a national assembly called last May by another party official, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi. Pacquiao has said only the chair or the president could call the meeting. Malacanang has said Cusi called the meeting on Duterte’s order.
Pacquiao, before leaving last Sunday for his training in the United States for his match with two-belt champion Errol Spence on August 21, alleged that there was corruption in the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development and Department of Energy.
Sen. Richard Gordon yesterday asked Pacquiao to file a resolution urging the Blue Ribbon Committee to investigate the alleged persistent corruption in government agencies so the Senate panel can know “what it will be specifically” investigating.
He said the panel cannot investigate based merely on newspaper accounts.
“I have neither received any request, nor has any resolution been filed regarding Senator Manny Pacquiao’s allegations. Moreover, no documents have been shared with us.
Nevertheless, I will not shirk from my duty and responsibilities as Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman,” Gordon said in a statement. — With Raymond Africa
