Presidential son and Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate (davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — In his typical blunt manner, Presidential son and Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte castigated in his Facebook account critics of the President who marked his first year in Malacanang Palace Friday.
The younger Duterte posted photos of Bayan Muna Partylist Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr. with a caption: “Dbesa aning duha oi! Sa pila ka tuig way Presidente nanagad ninyo, unya gibunal bunalan pa mo. Unsay tanaw ninyo aning gobyerno isa ka tulpok lang, delete na tanan? daw computer? Kabaga ninyo ug nawong no? Kamo kaha pag presidente mga dodong? Maayo lage ug naay mabilin sa Pilipinas!
(These guys are the best! In several years that no President took notice of you and even hit you. What do you think of government? That you can delete everything in a press of a button? Like a computer? You have those guts? Why not you become the President? Well, we’re lucky if there is anything more left for the Philippines!)
Duterte added that he is dismayed with the two critics. He also put a hashtag “peraperalangyan” (it’s all about money).
The post has garnered more than 2,000 reactions, 209 shares and 483 comments as of 9:47 pm.
Sought for comment, Zarate told Davao Today that the rally they held today in time for the first year of President Rodrigo Duterte in office was similar to the one they did during the President’s inauguration.
“It is to constructively engage the administration of Pres. Duterte,” Zarate said.
He added, “(W)e just hope that a constructive criticism should not be taken negatively; as a long time ally in pursuing meaningful reforms, we also want the president to succeed even as we wish him to take the progressive path in making real and genuine change a reality.”
Last year, President Duterte received several activist leaders in Malacañan who presented to him the “People’s Agenda for Change.”
“That gesture of the president is unprecedented and highly laudable and appreciated. Today’s rally, thus, is a way to look back and gauge how far the administration has responded to the said people’s agenda,” Zarate said.
Zarate’s message during the rally supported the president’s initiative of pursuing an independent foreign policy, “especially against the dictates of the US and other imperialist countries that for the longest time as Pres.Digong himself acknowledged– caused untold miseries and historical injustices to our people, especially in Mindanao.” (davaotoday.com)
