‘And with Moreno showing an official DILG certificate praising him and his city in this task of distributing aid, well, Duterte might again be caught lying to the hilt, with his pants down, and perhaps looking at what’s inside.’
MALACAÑANG is in a rut of its own making, and only because President Duterte made the mistake of hitting Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso without having the courage to name him.
Duterte’s latest expletives and salacious name-calling in his remarks in the taped television meeting with his Cabinet isn’t presidential at all, and many people in and out of the Internet — even those who did not like Isko Moreno — were turned off.
Here’s the President with his usual fire and brimstone, throwing shade at political opponents Isko Moreno and Jim Paredes: “Kayong mga Pilipino huwag kayong magpaloko diyan sa mga padrama magsalita pati. Nakita ko nga sa Facebook kanina, naka-bikini, may isang picture pa duon na sinisilip niya ang ari niya. Yan ang gusto ninyo? Ang training, parang call boy, naghuhubad sa picture, naka-bikini, yung garter tinatanggal niya. Parang si Paredes.”
It isn’t presidential at all to talk like this on a nationwide TV address, but since when did Duterte observe the protocols of his high office? He acts and thinks like he is still the mayor of some backwater city in the South, a mayor who fights the city thugs in their own game and by their own rules.
There is no question that Moreno is the target of the presidential vitriol, for he alone among the mayors of Metro Manila has showbiz background doing sexy and provocative movies in the past, from which such pictorials were taken.
Duterte’s tirades against Moreno’s character are below the belt and clearly intended to cut Isko down to size. Lately, Moreno has taken on the popular character of a leader whose potential for leadership clearly goes beyond the confines of Manila. By demolishing Mayor Domagoso this early, the President perhaps wanted to clear the way for the smooth road to the presidency for whoever he will anoint as his successor: his daughter Sara or his confidante Sen. Bong Go.
The Chief Executive talked about Isko’s salacious pictorials as an aside on the mayor’s alleged incompetence in the vaccination campaign, with presidential spokesman Harry Roque mentioning photos showing chaos in the vaccination sites in Manila, with people even lining up in a flood.
Because of this, Duterte said he will withhold from the mayor the task of distributing cash subsidies to the residents, and instructed the Department of Interior and Local Government and Department of Social Welfare and Development to do the job.
We believe nothing changed here, because it was really the DSWD, in coordination with the barangays, that distributed the cash during Bayanihan 1. And with Moreno showing an official DILG certificate praising him and his city in this task of distributing aid, well, Duterte might again be caught lying to the hilt, with his pants down, and perhaps looking at what’s inside.
