DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 6 July) – Resigned Davao City vice mayor Paolo Duterte lashed at Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chair Jose Maria Sison for calling him and his father, President Rodrigo Duterte, the “biggest protectors of illegal drugs in the country.”
In a statement on Friday, the younger Duterte called Sison a “disgrace” to the country and a “pathological liar” for repeating an accusation that he alleged was spread around by the administration’s staunch critic, apparently alluding to opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV “who is also a rabid anti-communist.”
“Joma Sison’s accusation that my father and I are the biggest protectors of illegal drugs in the country confirms that the founder of the oldest terror group in Southeast Asia is completely losing it,” he said.
Duterte added Sison’s statement was absurd and showed how much he was willing to take for the sake of public attention, propaganda and significance.
Sison uttered such remark during an interview with members of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.
“It also showed the nature of his politics and principles — where it’s acceptable for enemies to sleep together in one bed, speak one language, and unify forces and work together until the common target is toppled down,” he said.
He said the communist leader’s “insanity” would fail just like the Maoist revolution in the Philippines.
“And Mr. Sison and his organizations — the CPP-NDFP-NPA — will be remembered in history for their contribution in the revolution that victimized the oppressed, the poor, and ultimately, the growth and development of the Philippines,” he added.
Duterte resigned on December 25 last year, months after he and brother-in-law lawyer Manases Carpio were implicated as members of the so-called Davao Group which was reportedly behind the P6.4-billion shabu smuggling last May 2017.
The shabu shipment came from China and arrived via the Manila International Container Port in Tondo, Manila on May 16 last year.
Last month, the president’s son said he would file libel charges against Trillanes for “viciously destroying his name, maligning his reputation and integrity, and for deliberately manufacturing lies and spreading black propaganda against him.” (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)