His hallmark

President Rodrigo Duterte's tirades continue against those questioning his administration's handling of government funds. He started with the Commission on Audit (COA), telling them not to make reports or findings public as the latter immediately judges the agencies, after which he tells his cabinet to ignore the COA altogether. He then turns his ire toward the Senate, particularly the Blue Ribbon Committee which is investigating the findings of the COA with regards to the purchase of PPEs and other materials to counter the pandemic found to be overpriced and why a supplier with questionable credentials was given the billion-peso contract.

Duterte gets personal with his attacks on Sen. Richard Gordon who chairs the committee and Sen. Ping Lacson. I've said before once attacks become personal during an argument or debate, then you know the person attacking has lost. It is the mandate of the COA to audit government spending and flag anomalies, deficiencies, or disallowances in government spending. That's their job. The Senate serves as an oversight committee on everything government does. Those are mandates that check and balance branches of government. But Duterte would rather have nothing of it.

This is the hallmark of this president. No one should question him, no one should criticize him, no one should go against his will or wishes. Be it a senator who once investigated him while he was still a mayor, be it the Commission on Human Rights and several others which have criticized his war on drugs, be it a network that aired political ads, not to his liking, or any other agency or group criticizing his administration or his cabinet. He did claim them to be the "best and brightest". After five years into his administration, it is clear that is not the case. Maybe they are good at something else?

Duterte is so used to getting his way from years of being the mayor of Davao City he believes or wants the same for the whole country. What do you call a leader like that? Pick your adjective. I once heard him say in one of his speeches that he has no illusions about power. He's also tired, wants to step down, and all that. Right. Never mind he wants to run as the second-highest official in the land in next year's election. And who thinks he won't be calling the shots if the elected president happens to be his ally?

I laud both the COA and the senators for pushing back against Duterte's rants and threats. It is good to see senators with backbones to do so, at least for now. The investigations must continue. As for Roque's attempt to divert and point fingers at the past administration's supposed faults, a former spokesperson and even the COA have immediately provided answers. Nice try. They should just answer the issues at hand in an intelligent, dignified manner. If they still can.