LUCENA CITY—Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte will be vulnerable to many things—including a coup d’etat—if he wins the presidency as a result of the many issues hounding him, Senator Grace Poe said Wednesday.
Duterte got the ire of various sectors for cursing Pope Francis, for making a joke on the rape-slay of an Australian minister and for taunting people with disability. He also continues to draw flak for favoring extra-judicial killings and for threatening to cut diplomatic relations with the United States and Australia.
The tough-talking mayor has also been giving controversial statements on various issues including his undeclared earnings.
He had earlier challenged Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to come out with an affidavit indicating how and when he received the information on his alleged “undeclared funds,” including the P211-million deposits at the Bank of the Philippine Islands branch in Pasig City.
Duterte promised to sign a bank waiver, but he reneged and insisted that the other presidential candidates also come out with their respective waivers before he did so.
As a result, Poe gave an unsolicited advice not only to Duterte but to all the other candidates, saying they must show proof to disprove the allegations against them.
“That was also what I did to erase doubts,” said Poe in referring to the questions on her citizenship and residency that were used by critics who petitioned the Senate Electoral Tribunal and the Commission on Elections to disqualify her from running for president in the May 9 elections.
Poe said she was confident there would be no no coup d’etat under her administration if she won the presidency.
She said her administration would take care of the military and ensure an increase in its pay and modernization.
“I believe coups happen only if there is dissatisfaction and a question in the moral authority of a leader, so I am scared of a coup. I am very confident it will not occur under my watch,” Poe said.
She also guaranteed that the media would have no problems with her because she would immediately sign the Freedom of Information bill to ensure transparency in all government transactions.
