MALACAÑANG on Tuesday played down pronouncements by embattled Senator Leila De Lima accusing President Rodrigo Duterte as a “sociopathic serial killer” and “dictator” who should be declared “unfit” to continue serving as president.
“[That is a] colorful language,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella told a Palace press briefing.
Asked about De Lima’s call for the Cabinet members to declare Duterte as unfit for the presidency, Abella replied, “Seriously?”
On Tuesday, De Lima, who is facing trial for drug charges that stemmed from allegations first made by Duterte, also urged the public to speak out against questionable policies of the administration, saying people should not be blind about what she described as his abusive regime, including purported state-sanctioned killings of drug suspects.
De Lima urged the public to stand up to Duterte, whom she described as a “dictator” and the “Philippines’ if not the world’s No. 1 killer.
De Lima also likened Duterte to “Joker” of the Batman movie, and branded him murderer, sociopathic serial killer and the country’s No. 1 criminal who ordered the killings of over 1,000 people by his death squad and more than 7,000 drug suspects in his drug war.
After retired SPO3 Arthur Lascañas surfaced and retracted his earlier statements before the Senate hearing last October, De Lima said there was no more doubt that Duterte was a killer.
De Lima said this was also the reason for experiencing all these ‘craziness’ in the government under the administration of Duterte.
In a news conference organized by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday at the Senate, Lascañas changed his testimonies given to the Senate committee on justice and human rights.
He admitted he was a “team leader” of the Davao Death Squad, the vigilante group formed by Duterte when he was still mayor of Davao City.
He said Duterte paid them from P20,000, P50,000 or P100,00, depending on the target, to kill suspected drug suspects and personal enemies.
However, he disclosed that Duterte spent as much as P4 million to execute radio broadcaster Jun Pala for repeatedly hitting him in his radio program.
The self-confessed leader of the DDS said he opted to make a public confession because he was stricken by his conscience to finally tell the truth.
He also revealed having a hand in the killing of his own brothers —Cecilio and Fernando, who were incolved in illegal drugs, and a family of four, which included a mother seven months on the family way and their four or five-year-old boy.
Like what Akbayan Sen. Risa Hontiveros said, De Lima noted “we should no longer ask question why under the Duterte administration, there’s a reunion of the questionable characters– from the time of the late President Marcos to the time of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo up to pork barrel scam brains Janet Lim- Napoles.”
She also mentioned the names of lawyer Ferdinand Topacio and their operators like former Volunteer Against Crime and Corruption chairman Dante Jimenez, Sandra Cam, and former NBI Deputy Directors Reynaldo Esmeralda and Ruel Lasala.
De Lima said: “The major enforcers of President Duterte’s orders are there — (Justice) Secretary Aguirre and SolGen (Jose) Calida, the abusive and arrogant officials of our government.
“Let us not ask why during the time of Duterte, all the criminals, the corrupt, and the evil have come out. There is a reunion of criminals in this government because the country’s President is the biggest criminal of all,” she said.
The former justice secretary, who is facing three drug charges before three separate Muntinlupa courts, likened the present scenario to the Batman movie, wherein Joker called all the evil inside Gotham City to sow darkness.
“Similar to the movie, President Duterte is Joker in the scene we are currently watching. A psychotic killer who is the leader of all evil from the time of Marcos up to the time of Arroyo,” she said.
She noted the present regime has an evil intent– to use her as an example to instill fear and silence critics, divert public attention on his abuses and blunders and also to cover up his bloody campaign against illegal drugs.
She pointed out that the number of those killed in the past seven months was greater in number than those killed during the 14 years of Marcos law and the Marcos regime.
“More than 7,000 which means a thousand for each month,” she said.
She said it was clear the Duterte administration wanted to destroy the credibility of those defending human rights– the rights of poor and small-time pushers.
“They have been doing this by linking me to illegal drugs and rushing on my womanhood. Being the major voice in the Senate, there’s a need for the regime to silence me so nobody would attack them in killing the poor,” said De Lima.
But De Lima assured she would continue to speak out against the administration in her belief that more people would break their silence.
She called on the public who had chosen to remain silent to hold Duterte for all the killings.
She told them to speak out against questionable policies of the administration, insisting the public should not be blind about what she described as his abusive regime, including purported state-sanctioned killings of drug suspects.
She challenged them to lend their voice. “Lend your voice of outrage [for] what’s happening in the country.”