NO such thing as virtual kick, most especially coming from former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Two leaders of the “Young Guns” group of administration lawmakers on Sunday challenged former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to attend the next hearing of the Quad Comm if he really is dead serious about his threat to kick members of the House of Representatives.
“With all due respect Mr. FPRRD, don’t make any more excuses in not attending our hearings. Please make sure to be around on Wednesday, so that you can make true your threat to kick congressmen as you have repeatedly warned,” House Assistant Majority Leader Jay Khonghun of Zambales dared.
“Be here at the Quad Comm hearing, and go ahead, kick us if that will make you happy. I’m very sure your supporters nationwide will also be watching on national TV or YouTube, ready to give you the loudest applause you want to hear,” Khonghun said.
House Assistant Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V of La Union, for his part, expressed bewilderment on how can the former leader kick congressmen if he himself repeatedly refuses to participate on the hearings despite assurances that he will surely attend after the November 1 holiday.
“How can you kick us if you don’t physically attend the hearings? Be man enough to do it. I suppose you’re a man of your word,” he said.
“Don’t make empty threats. Please make no mistake: while we respect you, by no stretch of the imagination does this mean we’re afraid of you. Give us respect, too,” Ortega said.
“Don’t be afraid to face us in Quad Comm. You don’t have to worry, we will give you all the reasonable amount of respect you deserve being the former president. I, for one, will make that pledge in front of you and the nation if I have to,” Ortega said.
“But this respect should be reciprocal: We will not and we will never allow you to bully us in our own House – the House of the (114-million-strong Filipino) People whom we are all representing, from the northernmost district to the southernmost district across the country,” Ortega said.
“You are our guest so please act like one,” Ortega maintained.
He also reminded the ex-president that while more than 16 million Filipino voters installed him to Malacanang in 2016, this simply means his mandate has already expired after serving his full six-year term until June 2022.
“Mr. FPRRD, please be reminded that while you still enjoy having Presidential Security Group personnel, you are now – for all intents and purposes – a civilian who no longer carries that mandate. So, please act like a statesman if you want to be respected,” Khonghun added. (END)
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