Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros slammed President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday for allegedly blaming other people or groups for the problems hounding his administration.
“Two years into the Presidency and we bear witness to this government running a series of blame-games for its mishaps and incompetence,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
The senator raised several instances where the President allegedly pointed his fingers to others during discussions of issues against the government.
“Instead of thinking of solutions, he is putting the blame on others. The increase in the price of goods, he blames it on (US President Donald) Trump. The erroneous war on drugs, he blames it on human rights advocates,” Hontiveros claimed.
“With the worsening poverty, it is the fault of the previous administration. The President has a growing list of people and things to blame, except himself. Tough talker, pero (but a) weak leader,” she alleged.
During a speech on Friday before the Filipino Community in Jordan, Duterte said Trump caused inflation, claiming that the tariffs and the banning of other prices contributed to high prices.
“Inflation is dahil ‘yan kay Trump (Inflation is because of Trump). When Trump raised ‘yung mga tarrif niya pati banned other items nagkaloko-loko,” Duterte said.
Hontiveros also downplayed Duterte’s suspicions that members of the Liberal Party, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, and communist groups are planning to remove him from office by October, saying that these are still ways to alleviate the focus on more pressing concerns.
Instead, she called on the President to “start governing.”
“It is time to tell the President: quit terrorizing, start governing. By words and deeds, he terrorizes the public, highlighted in the recent week by a political vendetta gone shamefully wrong to divert the public’s attention from issues that really matter: soaring consumer prices, unemployment, extrajudicial killings, rice shortage, and many others,” she said.
“The most recent one is the spread of fake news of a so-called “October revolution” plot borne out of paranoia,” she added.