Duterte said he was only carried away by problems in illegal drugs.
President Rodrigo Duterte apologized to Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno for the spicy, harsh words he has uttered towards the chief magistrate, saying he was only carried away.
The president made the apology as he spoke to the media concurrent with the arrival of Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz in Davao City.
According to the president, he was only carried away by the big problem on illegal drug trade in the country.
“I apologize to the Chief Justice for the harsh words. It was never intended,” said the President on Thursday, August 11, during a press conference in Davao City.
Duterte said he regretted his verbal “tangle” with Sereno.
He said his public naming of government officials supposedly into drugs, including 7 judges, is his way of putting an end to the spread of drugs in the country.
“But ako kasi because of the magnitude of the problem, it was my way of solving the problem within the ambit of my powers as president,” said Duterte.
He, however, repeated his belief that requiring warrants of arrest before making moves against drug protectors would take too long.
He reiterated that his job is to let the people know what to stay away from, especially those which can create bad influence.
Duterte also announced that there is an additional list , involving high-ranking officials who are users or dependents on illegal drugs, which will be disclosed anytime.
On Tuesday, President Duterte gave Chief Justice Sereno a lecture after she expressed her concern on making judges linked to illegal drug trade in the country surrender to PNP Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa.
Duterte has already clarified that it was the involved policemen who were orderred to surrender to Bato while the named and shamed judges were suggested to go to the Supreme Court to explain.
Duterte then attacked Sereno as someone appointed by the previous administration which has done nothing to address the worsening problem on illegal drugs and crimes related to it.
Sereno chose not to reply to Duterte.
SHE DOESN’T NEED TO REPLY BECAUSE THE PRESIDENT IS TELLING THE TRUTH. YOU CAN NOT BE POLITICALLY CORRECT ALL THE TIME. STRAIGHT TALK IN A VERY SIMPLE ENGLISH OR TAGALOG THAT PEOPLE CAN UNDERSTAND INSTEAD OF GOING MERRY GO ROUND.