PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night, May 4, thanked the corporate sector for their efforts to help address the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) epidemic in the country and apologized for the “hurting words” he uttered prior to the crisis.
He said he was ready to talk and resolve legal issues as the crisis arising from Covid-19 has humbled him and made him realize that government also needs the corporate sector.
“I can promise you that I’ll be nice and if you want to see me, we can talk. Naubos na ho yung pagka-suplado ko kasi..the Covid humbled me. With the kind of response that you gave, showed to the public, it’s a humbling experience also for me that, you know, baka kailangan mo rin sila balang araw,” he said.
“Maybe, there would be a lot of legal issues, but we can talk. I’m ready to talk. And I’d be reasonable,” he added.
Duterte apologized specifically to the Ayala Group and to Manuel “Manny” Pangilinan, head of the Metro Pacific Group, for the “hurting words” he uttered against them in December 2019.
“Yung mga masakit kong salita to the Ayalas and to, si Pangilinan, I apologize for the hurting words. If you can find in your heart to forgive me, because if you do not, then I will ask.. if you do not want to forgive me, I will undercut you. I will go direct to God,” he said, eliciting laughter from members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Pangilinan, who is also the chairman of the country’s largest telecommunications company PLDT, responded through a Twitter post: “I would like to thank the President for his remarks tonight, most especially for his sincerity and kindness.”
The Zobel brothers at the helm of the Ayala Group also accepted the President’s apology.
“We are grateful for President Duterte’s statement at the briefing last night. We have always believed in building a strong partnership between the private and public sectors in addressing our country’s problems and in investing in the country to create jobs and improve the lives of Filipinos. We appreciate the recognition of the Ayala Group’s efforts in supporting the administration as it faces the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic,” they said in a joint statement.
“We are committed to help the President tackle the many challenges he has to deal with and are confident that by working together, our country can overcome each challenge, save lives and gradually put the country back on a path of growth,” they added.
The statement was issued by Ayala Corporation chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and Ayala Corp. president and COO Fernando Zobel de Ayala.
In December 2019, the President ordered the filing of economic sabotage charges against these conglomerates, two of the biggest in the country, over legal issues affecting the government water supply contracts.
READ: Duterte orders ‘econ sabotage charges vs Manila Water, Maynilad
The charges were to be filed against Manila Water Company Inc. and Maynilad Water Services Inc., water concessionaires in Metro Manila.
Manila Water is a subsidiary of Ayala Corporation while Maynilad is owned and managed by DMCI-MPIC Water Company Inc., a joint venture between the Pangilinan-led Metro Pacific Investments Corporation (MPIC) and DMCI Holdings Inc.
The Ayala and Pangilinan groups were among the first conglomerates to heed Duterte’s call for help in March, as cases of coronavirus infection started to increase in the Philippines and an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was imposed in the entire Luzon.
READ: Ayala, MVP groups heed Duterte’s call for help
Both conglomerates were also part of Project Ugnayan, which distributed grocery vouchers to urban poor residents in Metro Manila.
In his speech Monday night, Duterte said the conflict with the Ayala and Pangilinan groups was “part of governance”.
“Meron tayong mga problema noon, which is really part of governance and which I hope you’d understand that it was really part of my sworn duty as an employee of the government,” he said.
“If we can just forget it for the moment, I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping us..provide the necessities of the moment,” he added. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)