Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III on Monday said Vice President Sara Duterte should seek professional help following her recent remarks about President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
In a press conference, Pimentel said Duterte’s remarks — which included her imagining cutting off Marcos’ head — should be expressed to medical professionals, family members, and close friends, and “not in a formal press conference.”
“Actually, nag-worry ako sa kanya, kay Vice President. Sa tingin ko, she needs to talk to some professional and maybe some close friends and family para mailabas niya ‘yung mga nasa damdamin at nasa isip niya. Mahirap hindi mo i-share,” Pimentel said.
(Actually, I was worried about the Vice President. I think she needs to talk to some professionals and maybe some close friends and family so she can express her thoughts and feelings. It is hard not to share them.)
Pimentel added he finds Duterte’s statements “unusual.”
GMA News Online has already reached out to Duterte for her comment, but she has yet to respond as of posting time.
‘AI ba ito?’
Aside from imagining beheading the President, Duterte, during the same press conference last Friday, also mentioned her supposed confrontation with Senator Imee Marcos where she told her about exhuming late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s body and throwing it into the West Philippine Sea.
“‘Yung narinig ko kasi, nagulat ako. Ang sabi ko, ‘AI ba ito’? Hindi naman. Totoo pala. So, it’s really unusual ‘yung mga sinabi po ni Vice President Sara Duterte and to me, it’s strange na, in the first place na naisip niya ‘yun tapos vinerbalize lang niya,” Pimentel said.
(I was shocked about what I heard. I even asked ‘Is this artificial intelligence’? But it was not. So I think what Vice President Sara Duterte said was really unusual. It’s strange that she thought of that and then she verbalized it.)
Reconciliation sought
Although he acknowledged Duterte for her willingness to criticize the administration for “checks and balances,” Pimentel said he is hoping that someone will also try to reconcile the country’s top two leaders.
In a separate ambush interview, Senator Cynthia Villar also expressed hope for Marcos and Duterte’s reconciliation. For her, “overly prosecuted” Duterte was just blowing off steam during her press conference.
“Siyempre galit eh. Kung anu-ano naiisip kasi galit. Kasi I think, masyado namang pino-prosecute kaya nagagalit. Siguro ‘yun ang reason but sana magbati na lang para walang problema,” Villar told reporters.
(She was just angry and releasing pent-up emotions. I think she was being overly prosecuted. I hope the two will reconcile to end their conflict.)
During a sit-down press conference last Friday, Duterte accused Marcos, her running-mate in the 2022 elections, of not knowing how to rule a country.
The press conference was held amid the Marcos-allied House of Representatives’ investigation into Duterte’s use of confidential and intelligence funds in the previous years, and the Quad Committee’s probe into alleged extrajudicial killings during the administration of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte. —KBK, GMA Integrated News
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