Duterte to Gordon: “It’s about time na isauli kita sa dati mong pagkatao.”
President Rodrigo Duterte had recently addressed Senator Richard Gordon by his nickname for the first time in his public briefings since he started to beef with the lawmaker around three weeks ago.
However, this wasn’t a term of endearment at all as the President led his “Talk to the People” address aired late Monday night. Senator Gordon was again his main topic.
During the briefing, the President claimed that the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee failed to produce anything in order to prove its accusation of corruption.
“The simple fact is the [Senate] Blue Ribbon [Committee] failed to produce anything to prove its accusation of corruption,” President Duterte said, getting to the root of his conflict with Senator Gordon.
Senator Gordon had been leading a panel inquiry on the procurement of alleged overpriced pandemic supplies by the administration last year.
According to the President, even the senator, who was the chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, conceded that there’s no overpricing and yet he “insists on pursuing this”.
The President also underscored that the inquiry was being done at the expense of dragging government officials and compromising the government’s efforts against the pandemic at a time when cases were at an all-time high and thousands of people were getting sick and dying.
READ ALSO: Senator Gordon Hits Back At President Duterte, Calls Him “Cheap Politician”
President Duterte, who had previously described the senator as a “show-off“, vowed that he would humble the lawmaker.
“Siguraduhin kita na I will reduce you to your original size. Eh masyado ka nang lumaki, lumaki na ulo mo. It’s about time na isauli kita sa dati mong pagkatao,” President Duterte said to the senator.
The President had been breathing down the senator’s neck in his quest to have the Commission on Audit (COA) audit the finances of the Philippine Red Cross.
Senator Gordon, who was the longtime chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, had said that that the Commission on Audit can’t perform such audit on the Philippine Red Cross, which was a private entity.
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