Senator Leila de Lim and President Rodrigo Duterte
President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday dropped a bombshell when he called out in his speech a senator for being an “immoral woman” for having an affair with her driver who allegedly collected money for her during the election campaign.
In his speech at the 115th police service anniversary at Camp Crame, Duterte lambasted the female senator, whom he did not identify, for heavily criticizing the government in its anti-drug campaign that resulted in many deaths.
“Here’s a senator complaining. One day I will tell you that her driver himself, who was a lover, was the one collecting money for her during the campaign,” said Duterte.
“An immoral woman, insofar as the driver’s wife is concerned, it’s adultery,” he continued.
“Here’s a woman who funded a house of a lover and yet we don’t see any complaint about it,” the President added.
“Those money came readily from her. The intercept between Muntinlupa and the driver were far beyond making sure that somebody was involved,” he said, apparently referring to the New Bilibid Prison.
But Duterte later clarified that he was unsure whether the driver was giving the money he was collecting from Bilibid to the senator.
Senator Leila de Lima has cried foul that Duterte has resorted to “character assassination” when the latter talked about an unnamed senator, whom he described as an “immoral woman” for allegedly having an affair with a driver.
“May nagsabi nga sa akin ngayon lang so it’s very surprising,” de Lima told reporters on Wednesday. “Ang first reaction ko ngayon, ayaw ko nang patulan yan. I don’t want to dignify that. It’s so foul. It’s character assassination.”