Duterte: Daang matuwid a fantasy

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Philippines – Presidential bet and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said the daang matuwid of his rival Mar Roxas is just “a fantasy” created by the Aquino administration.

Speaking before a jubilant crowd at the town plaza here yesterday, Duterte said no one is really taking care of the country and it is the government itself that is oppressing the people.

He hit hard at Liberal Party presidential bet Roxas, saying, “This one, the daang matuwid (straight path), all along it was really a fantasy. It was only their fantasy. Nothing happens, only purely corruption.”

Comparing himself with Roxas, Duterte, the presidential candidate of Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino -Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), said he has the will and the ability to stop drugs and criminality in the country, adding that the funeral business would boom during his term.

“Eh gago ka pala eh lahat ng Pilipinas may shabu (You’re an idiot, drugs are everywhere in the Philippines),” Duterte said, referring to Roxas.

Vice President Jejomar Binay was not spared as the mayor stressed that he could talk about corruption, drugs and criminality.

“But this one (candidate), maybe he can talk about criminality, about drugs, but he cannot talk about corruption because he himself has baggage,” Duterte said in reference to Binay.

He vowed to rid the country of corruption, noting that one fourth of the country’s budget goes to corruption as he stressed that he no longer wants to say anything about Binay “because (the Vice President) is too busy counting money,” a comment that drew laughter from the crowd.

Sen. Alan Cayetano, his runningmate, also lambasted Duterte’s rivals, saying businessmen would not back their candidacies because of their inefficient leadership.

He claimed that the businessmen he talked with favor the city mayor because he delivers on his promises.

Paola Alvarez, PDP-Laban spokesperson, also criticized the daang matuwid slogan as “nothing but a platform of deceit” as she cited the use of government vehicles by Roxas’ supporters in putting up campaign materials. 

Alvarez said the use of red-plated vehicles exposes the true nature of the administration and the kind of governance behind the slogan.

“Daang matuwid has been conditioning the minds of Filipinos that this administration has been clean and efficient, when in reality it is corrupt and worse than the past administrations it claims to admonish,” Alvarez said in a statement. “It is not only a sham, at most, it is shameless and loathsome.”

Last week, a photo circulated online showing a mini dump truck loaded with yellow campaign posters in Zamboanga Sibugay and that of a black pickup truck, with government plate SDK 417, also loaded with Roxas’ campaign materials.

Alvarez said the administration is obviously at the height of desperation as its candidates continue to lag in surveys. 

Peter Laviña, spokesman for Duterte, reminded Filipinos of how Roxas has been dangling government programs such as the Bottom-Up Budgeting and 4Ps in his sorties. – With Edith Regalado, Robertzon Ramirez