The word war between Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Antonio Trillanes escalated after the senator vowed to do everything to ensure that the mayor will not become president because he is a “psycho.”
“We cannot have a psycho as our commander-in-chief,” said Trillanes, who said the tough-talking mayor would be a “very dangerous president.”
Trillanes, who is running for vice president, said Duterte would soon be exposed as a fraud.
In an earlier interview, Trillanes said the standard-bearer of PDP-Laban told him he ordered a man to kneel down and then shot him in the head.
Duterte even allegedly boasted to him that the brains of the man were splattered on the ground after he shot him.
Duterte called Trillanes an “idiot” and accused the senator of wanting to be in the news to boost his chances of winning as vice president.
Duterte said that he does not know Trillanes personally, explaining they only met when Trillanes asked him to be his running mate. He said Trillanes got mad when he rejected him.
“We only had a photo opportunity together and he asked me if he could be my vice president. I told him, you are not deserving. The son of a bitch staged a coup d’etat, damaged a hotel and now he is even boasting [about it],” said Duterte.
Trillanes, however, insisted that Duterte related the incident to him during a meeting set up by a common friend last year.
He also denied that he got mad at Duterte after his offer to be his running mate was rejected.
“He’s a liar. If he had told me that, I would have hit him right there. Our lengthy conversation went well and he even commended me for my public service,” stressed Trillanes.
Trillanes said Duterte has been long been talking about committing extra-judicial killings, which cannot be the truth because they cannot be verified.
Trillanes said Duterte is not fit to be president but can become a stand-up comedian.
“Let us read the history of dictators of different countries, those who resorted to killings. But he is just fooling us. He’s just making up stories to build himself up,” said Trillanes.
Meanwhile, Duterte said he will open the doors of Malacañang to Muslims under his presidency in order to to attain genuine and lasting peace in Mindanao.
He slammed the Aquino administration for its lack of sincerity in seeking a solution to the armed conflict in Mindanao.
“If I [get to] Malacañang, I will correct whatever mistakes were committed by this government. Just give me time,” he said.
Government has neglected the Mindanao and its people, he said.
“If I become president, the Moro people will be [welcome] in Malacañang,” he told the Coalition of Muslim Filipinos Movement for Digong at a campaign rally in Novaliches, Quezon City Saturday night.
According to Duterte, he wants to unite Christians, Muslims and lumads under his presidency.
“We will become a united Philippines,” he promised.