President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday cited the importance of dissent in a democracy, saying there is no democracy where dissent is absent.
“If there is no right to dissent, people cannot dissent, there is no democracy. Remove that and you do not have a democracy,” Duterte said in his speech at the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino- Lakas ng Bayan rally in Bacolod City.
He called on government and state forces, especially the police, to never intimidate dissenters.
“Never intimidate [them] because the essence of democracy is the right to dissent,” Duterte said.
He said he respects the people’s freedom to choose the candidates they want in an election.
“I will not get mad. Free choice. That’s the only thing I ask. Let the people decide which candidates they like,” Duterte said.
He said he never entered police stations months before elections during his stint as Davao City mayor.
“Months before [the elections], I did not enter police camps just to be fair,” he said.
Duterte earlier warned the 2019 midterm polls candidates, both from the administration and opposition parties, not to terrorize voters.
He also repeatedly ordered the police and the military to remain neutral during the conduct of the polls.