PRESIDENTIAL bet Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday blamed President Benigno Aquino III for the high incidence of criminality and asked him if he was high on drugs.
“Mr. President, are you on drugs? That is the reason why there are too many criminals nowadays. That is because of you,” Duterte said.
“You do not even know what due process is. As far as I am concerned, I know where to stand. If the criminal would resist violently and would place the life of the law enforcer or the military man in danger, shoot him. That is how the law should work, Mr. President.”
Duterte made the statement even as he said in Bangued, Abra, that he was recognizing the role of migrant Ilocanos in the development of Mindanao.
During his sortie there on Tuesday, Duterte also appealed to the Ilocanos in Extreme Northern Luzon to help his peace agenda in Mindanao once he is elected president.
It was the same appeal he made when he visited Ilocos Sur and other areas in the north.
“I need your help. We have to end the war in Mindanao,” Duterte said.
During the March 28 proclamation rally of former Manila mayor Alfredo Lim, Aquino slammed Duterte for his plan to kill the lawless elements if elected, and that his methods would only cut short the justice system and abandon due process.
Duterte reacted to the President’s statement by saying he would never be a dictator if that was what Aquino was trying to imply.
He said he would never disgrace his mother, Soledad Roa, as a member of the so-called Yellow Friday that fought a dictator during the Edsa People Power Revolution.
He lambasted the Aquino’s endorsement of Lim, who is also called “Dirty Harry.”
“Lim is dirtier [than me],” Duterte said.
He also chided Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II for attacking his advocacy for a federal government, which Roxas claimed could only mean more taxes for local government units and eventually for the national level.
Duterte, a PDP-Laban candidate, rejected Roxas’ claim and said the local governments were already being taxed twice in the current system of government.
“Mr. Secretary, there are too many local ordinance taxes on top of the national taxes,” Duterte said.
“That’s the problem with you, you are not a lawyer. On both counts, you and the president are both wrong. We have double taxation.”
Character, not comics, would make Roxas win the presidential election, Duterte said.
