Palace to Trillanes: You, not Duterte, are 'crazy'
"RABID" opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV must have been referring to himself when he dubbed President Rodrigo Duterte as "crazy," MalacaƱang said on Monday, January 14.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made the statement, as Palace shrugged off the relentless verbal tirades of Trillanes against Duterte.
"Senator Trillanes's latest attack against the President, even calling him 'baliw,' (crazy) because criminal charges have been filed against him for his transgressions is a distorted if not a fallacious argumentation," the Palace official said in a statement.
"When he described [Duterte] as 'baliw,' he (Trillanes) must have been referring to himself and correctly so," he added.
On Friday, January 11, Trillanes called Duterte "crazy," as he blamed the Chief Executive for another case lodged against him before a Pasay Court.
The Pasay City Prosecutor's Office filed a case for grave threats against Trillanes before the Pasay Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 47 for allegedly threatening the life of Labor Undersecretary Jacinto Paras.
Panelo said Trillanes's "partisan vociferous" rants against Duterte merely proved that the opposition senator was afraid of "going back" to prison.
"He (Trillanes) pompously claims he is not afraid of facing the criminal suits against him but his partisan vociferous rantings show that he is in mortal fear of going back to jail," he said.
The Palace official further stressed that Trillanes's remarks "go against the sentiments" of Filipinos, as reflected in the latest Pulse Asia's survey, which showed that Duterte is still the "most approved and trusted" official in the country.
Based on the December 14 to 21 poll conducted by Pulse Asia, Duterte registered the highest approval and trust scores, which were at 81 percent and 76 percent, respectively.
"The December 2018 Pulse Asia rating should serve as a timely reminder to the rabid political opposition, especially to the loose cannonball critic, outgoing Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, that the continuous assaults against the President and his administration are falling flat on their faces with the rise of [Duterte's] approval and trust ratings," Panelo said.
"The handwriting on the wall as graphically shown by the survey figures is glaring. Our people are fed up with the destructive politicking dished out by the opposition and [Duterte's] critics and detractors," he added.
Panelo said the Palace was ready for more "political noise" by opposition groups, since the election period for the May 12, 3019 elections already kicked off.
He, nevertheless, hoped that the administration's critics would engage in a "healthy debate."
"Filipinos want to maintain the visible and continuing genuine change, as well as the tangible results they are witnessing and experiencing under the current leadership of the President," he said.
"For a change and for the good of the nation, we urge the political opposition to engage the administration in a healthy debate of programs and platforms productive and beneficial to the Filipino people," Panelo added. (SunStar Philippines)