The Philippines is not yet ready for a Duterte presidency, this was the statement of the brilliant stateswoman, Sen. Santiago as she casts doubt on the Davao City mayor’s allegiance to the rule of law. When the feisty senator was asked about the readiness of the Filipinos for a Duterte presidency, she stated “I don’t think so,” she answered.
During an event dubbed “Meet the Inquirer Multimedia,” Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago said that some of the statement released by Mayor Duterte during the campaign were “ill-reasoned.” But she hopes the mayor would clarify these in subsequent pronouncements.
The Harvard-educated senator from Iloilo City noted that some of Mayor Duterte’s statement “make us doubt his allegiance to the rule of law,” the senator said.
The 71-year-old Mayor Rody Duterte is known for his tough stance against criminality and backing up his words with action, repeatedly said in various political events that his administration will be unwavering in its stand against criminality. The Mayor of Davao City vowed to stop criminality within the first six months of his administration if elected president.
The mayor of Davao City and the leading presidential candidate has been heavily criticized for his alleged connection to extrajudicial killings which were not proven in any court of law and denied by the mayor himself.
Sen. Santiago also explained during an exclusive interview with Inquirer that “We have to be legally literate. We have to know what does the law say so we can say whether his actuations are within the law or outside,” she said. “We don’t have that mass educational appeal to our voters yet,” she added.
The senator who is last in various presidential survey conducted by Pulse Asia, SWS and other agencies but leads in surveys conducted in different colleges and universities in the Philippines noted that many “don’t understand” that some of the actuations of Mayor Duterte might be against the law.
“Merong mga [naniniwalang] bayani siya kasi kaagad ay susuntukin niya ung kalaban niya. Alam naman nating mali ‘yon, pero wala tayong legal literacy kasi. Di man lang natin alam anong tinatawag na rule of law,” she said.
“Rule of law means the law applies to everybody whatever his standing in the community. That’s all that it means,” she explained. “We do not have enough respect for the rule of law in his country,” she said.