Press Release
August 18, 2016

STATEMENT OF SEN. PANGILINAN ON PRES. DUTERTE
PUBLIC STATEMENT VS SEN. DE LIMA

I am saddened by the latest incident and consider it most unfortunate considering that only the other week the President had in fact said publicly that Sen. De Lima was just doing her job. He even said that if he were in her position, he'd do the same thing and investigate the upsurge in drug-related killings.

The accusations against de Lima are unfair. May I reiterate my remarks when the President apologized for his "harsh words" against Chief Justice Sereno: that he is President of all 100 million plus Filipinos, and that his public statements -- what he says and how he says it -- affect all of us.

I can understand that the President is hard-pressed to deliver on his campaign promise to rid the nation of the scourge of illegal drugs but there ought to be a greater degree of civility in the face of disagreements between and amongst both branches of government. We should be able to perform our different roles as servants of the people and accord each other due respect.

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