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Sunday, March 23, 2003
Duterte ambivalent on emergency powers
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte Saturday doubted if President Gloria Arroyo would need emergency powers during the US-Iraq crisis.
Duterte said he does not support any emergency powers that will be used by the Arroyo administration at the moment, but quickly held his reservation saying he will have to wait for developments in the next 72 hours.
Duterte said he believes that if ever Arroyo will use emergency powers it will be for the benefit of the Filipinos, not for her own vested interests.
"I don't think she will use emergency powers for her own interests. She only wants to protect the interest of the Filipino people. And she's been saying naman that she is not running anymore so there is no danger of another martial law. Yun lang naman ang kinatatakutan natin e, yung gamitin ulit ang emergency powers to extend her rule," he said.
At the same instance, Duterte said he fully supports the stand of the Arroyo administration in supporting the United States of America in its war against Iraq.
Duterte said though he personally believes that the US action against Iraq sans the approval of the United Nations is illegal his duty as a public official calls for him to support the national government.
"In times like this we have to make a choice. I stand squarely behind the president," Duterte said.
Arroyo last Friday declared that her administration is willing to offer our seaports and airports as refueling areas for the US-led planes and warships.
Being part of the "coalition of the willing," Arroyo said she was committed to providing political and moral support to coalition forces.
Some senators, however, called on Arroyo to temper her support for the US-led military strike on Iraq, saying this will invite sympathy attacks by local extremists supportive of the Islamic state's Saddam Hussein.
Senator Aquilino Pimentel said allowing the country to become refueling centers for warplanes and ships will serve as invitation for such attacks.
Senator Teresa Aquino Oreta agreed that such "needless" support would only endanger peace-loving Filipinos, majority of whom reject the war against Iraq.
But if the use of the country's military facilities by US forces is inevitable, Pimentel added, then Arroyo should demand something in return.
(March 23, 2003 issue)
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