Press Release
April 10, 2018

Dispatch from Crame No. 279:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Statement on Duterte's latest tirade vs Supreme Court CJ Sereno

Duterte's declaration of war on the Chief Justice is unacceptable behavior for any public official. But this is Duterte, and we have been used to his gangster governance for some time now.

It was only therefore a matter of time before he unleashed his signature uncouth language and mafia boss caricature on CJ Sereno. Like the action movie kontrabida of yore, we hear him overacting according to script, hollering to his henchmen.

"Mga bata, iligpit nyo na yan!"

This is the President of a Republic acting out a bad Paquito Diaz or Max Alvarado impression, fully raised on Filipino gangster movies that he thinks this is also how it goes in real life. He is no longer able to distinguish himself as real-life President of an actual country, and Rodrigo Duterte the Cambridge Analytica-created action star. The only missing props is the trophy starlet on his lap while he barks his marching orders to his gang of brainless ruffians.

At tatalima naman ang kanyang mga maton sa Kongreso sa pagligpit kay CJ Sereno ng walang kakurap-kurap. Nagkakandarapa ngayon ang mga extra sa pelikula ni Duterte na iligpit ang kalaban.

Ito po ang bansang Pilipinas ngayon. Isang masamang pelikula na pinangungunahan ng isang gasgas na aktor na Pangulo. Kung puwede lang sanang lumabas ng sinehan at tumakas sa bangungot ng nakakairitang pag-arte. Ngunit hindi ito pelikula, at hindi ganoon kadaling tumakas sa bangungot.

Hanggang kailan ba titiisin ng sambayanan ang sangganong walang modo at saksakan ng laki ng ulo? Ito ba talaga ang pinuno na nais ng mga Pilipino na ibandera sa buong mundo? Karapat-dapat pa nga bang maging Pangulo ang ganito kakitid o kahangal mag-isip?

We already know the answers to these questions. The only remaining question is how long do we pretend that everything is normal, and that this country can still survive the damage this man has done to our institutions.

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