Philippine senator Francisco Pangilinan

 "We cannot afford to have another 6 years of Duterte administration," Pangilinan says

Bitterness at its finest from the losing party

By Edward Era Barbacena 

 Manila - Pro-communist and leader of opposition senator Francis Pangilinan on Monday said the Philippines cannot afford another six years of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, during his interview with Karen Davila on ANC.

“The next six years will be critical. This 2022 will determine probably the next 20 years. And my position is, we cannot afford another six years under this administration,” Pangilinan said in an interview when asked about the possibility of Duterte’s policy being extended after the 2022 elections.

“We cannot afford another six years of daily killings, we cannot afford another six years of strongman iron fist policies, and of course we cannot afford another six years of subservience to China,” he added.

The lawmaker underscored the change that Filipinos should make in the 2022 national and local elections.

“Do we want this for the next six years? That’s up to the people to decide. They have that choice in 2022,” he said.

On the other hand, Pangilinan refused to rate the administration, pointing out that Duterte may still improve or worsen his performance during his final year as chief executive.

“I don’t think at this point masasabi nating pumapasa siya. I don’t want to put a grade of fail or pass dahil hindi pa naman tapos,” he said.

"I don’t think we can say that he is getting a passing grade. I don’t want to give him a failing or passing mark because he is not yet done with his term."

"But he needs to catch up because there are shortcomings, especially when the COVID-19 pandemic started and a lot of people have lost their  jobs, experienced hunger. Then there was underspending of public funds and of course there is still corruption in PhilHealth among others."

Among the campaign promises that Duterte failed to deliver, according to Pangilinan, were addressing crime and drugs in three to six months; defending the West Philippine Sea; lowering the prices of goods such as rice; and ending contractualization in the labor sector.

Duterte is set to deliver his last SONA on Monday at 4:00 p.m. at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City. 

"If they want more of the same of this type of administration, then they should campaign and vote for Duterte-Duterte. But if they no longer want this setup, then we should unite towards a new direction for our country"

Pangilinan was referring to the possible daughter and father tandem of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and President Rodrigo Duterte for the presidential and vice presidential posts, respectively, in the 2022 elections.

Source:. GMA Online news