MANILA – President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Tuesday night lashed out at Vice President Leni Robredo for alleged “grandstanding” and questioning his absence during the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses last week.
Duterte labeled Robredo as “dishonest” for pretending not to know that he was attending the 37th virtual ASEAN Summit and Related Summits from November 12 to 15.
“Huwag ka masyadong porma-porma, hindi mo talaga panahon. Hindi mo pa panahon (Don’t act like that. It’s not your time yet). Not time to be making a grandstanding. Hindi ninyo alam na nagtatrabaho ako. Na-timingan lang it was a summit (You didn’t know I was working. It just so happened there was a summit) and I cannot excuse you for not knowing it. You knew that there was a summit going on and you had the gall to say, ‘Nasaan ang Presidente (Where is the President)?” he said in a taped speech.
Duterte accused the Vice President of being showy during the typhoon response since she knew that he was busy attending the summit and “could not make myself available.”
“Alam mo may summit going on (You knew there was a summit going on), ASEAN Summit. And I was giving the longest speech there, intervention, in the Plenary. Iyon ang totoo diyan. Kaya ako lumipad doon sa Bicol. Inunahan mo ako pakunwari (That’s the truth. That’s why I flew to Bicol. You wanted to be there ahead of me),” he said.
Robredo, the President said, merely made phone calls and acted as if the Armed Forces of the Philippines took action after her call.
“Then you make it appear na gumalaw ang Armed Forces (that the Armed Forces acted). You are not part of the command,” he said.
Duterte also warned Robredo against trying to “compete” with him, adding that she “cannot become president.”
“Do not compete with me and do not start a quarrel with me kasi ikaw wala ka talagang nagawa except ‘yang mga tawag-tawag. Tatawag ka kunwari o nasaan na ‘yung mga helicopter, nalipad na ba? (because you didn’t do anything except make calls. You would call and ask, ‘Did the helicopters take off yet?’) Of course, they would say yes. Your question would suggest the answer,” he said.
Duterte said government personnel and resources were prepositioned two to three days before the typhoon made landfall.
“Hindi na kailangan akong mag-order at mag-order ka pa on the day (There was no need for me to make orders or for you to make an order on the day), God… You were presuming that I should be giving orders on the day of the storm. That is stupid. That is why you cannot become a president really. Mahina ka eh. Wala ka nang ibigay order kasi ang order naibigay na two or three days (You’re weak. You didn’t have to give any order because I gave it two or three days before). You do not give orders on the day of the war,” he said.
The President also denied that he was sleeping on the job, saying he was monitoring the typhoon situation while attending the summit.
“Gusto ninyong ipalabas natutulog. Kung ordinary times, walang emergency, walang typhoon (You want to make it appear like I was asleep. In ordinary times, when there’s no emergency, no typhoon), I told you right at the beginning of my term, I am a night person. My day starts at 2 o’clock in Malacañan,” he said.
Insisting that it was a “sin” for Robredo to not know what was happening in government, Duterte explained that he delivered about two speeches during the summit and later made an aerial inspection of the typhoon-hit areas.
In a tweet, Robredo debunked Duterte’s allegations, denying that her office did nothing during the height of the typhoon.
She said her office was busy repacking relief goods in their headquarters in Quezon City.