THERE GOES DECORUM The nation had a fresh dose of the expletive-laden rants of Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, as the former President appeared at the Senate and faced, for the first time since the end of his term, an official body revisiting his bloody war on drugs. 鈥擥RIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Two lawmakers called out former President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday, urging him to avoid using profanity during formal legislative hearings.
鈥淩efrain from using profanity and inappropriate language in formal legislative hearings,鈥� said the co-chairmen of the House of Representatives quad committee, Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante.
This came after Duterte, along with his expletive-laden testimonies, appeared before the Senate鈥檚 drug war probe on Monday.
鈥淪iguro kung siya ay a private person lang, magsalita siya ng ganyan, magbiro siya, ay okay pa. Pero 鈥榩ag isang dating pangulo ng bansa ay nagbiro ng ganyan鈥� nakakatakot iyan,鈥� Abante said in a statement.
(Perhaps if he were just a private person, speaking and joking like that would be acceptable. But when a former president of the country jokes like that, it鈥檚 frightening.)
For his part, Fernandez questioned whether or not anyone from the upper chamber had moved for Duterte鈥檚 profanity to be removed from the Senate鈥檚 records.
鈥淣akakahiya tayo鈥� wala man lang nag-stand para i-delete o tanggalin 鈥榶on sa record ng Senado?鈥� Fernandez said.
(It鈥檚 embarrassing for us鈥� isn鈥檛 there anyone who will stand up to delete or remove that from the Senate record?)
According to Fernandez, if Duterte spoke in that manner in quad comm hearings, he would ensure it would not make it to the official records.
Earlier, Senate President Chiz Escudero made a categorical stand against the use of profanity in the upper chamber, maintaining that the public should not get used to such language.
READ: Escudero on Duterte鈥檚 cursing: Senate will not tolerate it
The Senate chief鈥檚 remarks came after Sen. Risa Hontiveros called out Duterte on Monday for spewing profanity during the Senate hearing on the drug war.
Duterte repeatedly used offensive language while explaining his stance against illegal drugs and criminality
READ: Hontiveros calls out Duterte鈥檚 profanity at Senate probe听
鈥淢agandang na-point out 鈥榶un ni Sen. Risa dahil ayaw kong mamanhid ang Senado o ang lipunan o tayong lahat na isipin nating okay lang 鈥榶un. Hindi okay 鈥榶un ha,鈥� Escudero told reporters in a Kapihan sa Senado forum on Tuesday.
(It鈥檚 good that Sen. Risa pointed that out because I don鈥檛 want the Senate, society, or all of us to become desensitized and think that it鈥檚 okay. That鈥檚 not okay.)