MALACAÑANG blasted on Tuesday detained Sen. Leila M. de Lima for her “insensitive” remarks that virtually pinned the blame on the Duterte administration the recent bombings in Mindanao.
Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said the senator is already “talking nonsense as her confinement has “dulled her senses.”
“Instead of giving words of support to the ground forces in Mindanao and consoling the bereaved loved ones of those who perished in the bombing incident, which is the least she could have done, she opted to be indifferent if not callous to the military men who were killed in the line of duty, as well as to the bravery of our soldiers who are ferociously hunting the terrorists and risking their lives in pursuing the barbaric criminals to bring them to justice,” Panelo said in a news statement.
He added the fact that the soldiers were not able to detect the terrorists who disguised themselves as churchgoers is no reason for the “criminally accused legislator to be so insensitive as to blame them for the tragedy.”
According to de Lima, if indeed the terrorists were the ones who did the bombings, this only proves that the “gangster-like antics” of the President cannot protect people against terrorists, and neither can he scare them away to end their killing spree.
De Lima said it is ironic that the bombings happened at the time when Mindanao has been under the grip of martial law, the Bangsamoro Organic Law plebiscite and the cathedral in Jolo has been walled by security forces for several months prior to the bombing.
“The first was Marawi, now Jolo and Zamboanga. His [Duterte’s] threats are nothing but empty words to real terrorists. To put it bluntly, he is mighty in words, but inept in action. What are our intelligence assets doing, or where are the funds to run the intelligence gathering?” said the senator, who is also a staunch critic of the Duterte administration.
De Lima also questioned the “hasty pronouncement of the President that suicide bombers were behind the attacks without waiting for the results of the official investigation and validation from experts.
“His statements achieve nothing but add more confusion and fear among the people. It is highly irresponsible, especially coming from the top official of the land,” she said.
“In these bombings in Mindanao, is he again misleading the public and selling us the wrong story?,” she added.
The senator said this is her reason for supporting the call for an independent investigation for fear of cover-up and whitewash in the bombings in Jolo and Zamboanga.
But Panelo was quick to dismiss de Lima’s remarks, saying Duterte was also the same President who “crushed the dreaded and ruthless ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria] and their local counterparts in the Marawi siege.”
Panelo also reiterated that if not for the President’s martial- law declaration in Mindanao, the bombings and killings would have been a “daily occurrence.”
“This is also the same President who has declared a war on drugs, criminality and corruption and gained headway in all those fronts by his swift action and enforcement of the law, without fear or favor,” Panelo said.
Moreover, the Palace spokesman added, de Lima has already become an “irrelevant” political entity who tries to enter into the public’s consciousness by dishing out “reckless and offensive rants against the President, reducing herself into a pathetic figure and a pitiful caricature.”
“She is better off indulging herself in meditation and prayers so the goodness in her heart comes out in full bloom instead of seeing only the dark side in her dungeon,” he said.