De Lima to Duterte: Stop whining and do your job!

Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has urged Mr. Duterte to stop complaining about his job as a President and allot his time and energy in addressing the needs of the Filipino people who continue to suffer from injustices under his regime.

De Lima said Mr. Duterte apparently failed to realize that he is the President of the whole Philippines, and not the Mayor of Davao City, when he settled with merely bragging about his hometown in his recent 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA).

"Kung magrereklamo lang siya sa hirap ng trabaho niya sa paglutas sa mga problema ng isang buong bansa, sana tumakbo na lang siya uling Mayor ng Davao. Malinaw naman na pang-mayor lang ang kaya niya," she said.

"Duterte whines and cries about the state of the nation like a bawling baby. A real President would know that he is the least of all people who has the right to complain," she added.

De Lima made the statement in her "Commentary on Duterte's Midterm SONA" entitled "No Fight Left Inside Duterte" in sharp rebuke to Duterte's recent address to the nation last July 22.

In his 4th SONA, Duterte said he is tired and unhappy in office and would even welcome a coup d'etat by the military. Aside from complaining about his work, he also bragged about his achievement as former mayor of Davao.

He referred to Davao as the "best city in the universe" and asked the entire Philippines to emulate Davao by cutting down on their nightlife, banning smoking nationwide, and beefing up their fire-fighting engines, among others.

"Duterte is saying: "Ang corrupt ng Pilipinas! Pero ang galing ng Davao City!" Ginoong Duterte, kung hindi mo napansin, tatlong taon ka nang Pangulo ng Pilipinas. Hindi ka na Mayor ng Davao," De Lima said.

De Lima, the staunchest critic of the administration's crooked policies, said Mr. Duterte should just relinquish his post and let someone more competent do his job seriously if he cannot take all the responsibilities he has as a President.

"Ginoong Duterte, walang pumilit sa iyo na tumakbo bilang Pangulo, kaya huwag kang magreklamo at umiyak na parang sanggol sa hirap ng iyong trabaho," she said.

"Either you stop whining and do your job or resign and let others take over the serious business of running the country," she added.

The lady Senator from Bicol pointed out that Mr. Duterte cannot end his term fighting for the common good and the future of his countrymen if there is no longer any fight left in him in the first place.

"The whole country cannot be sacrificed as you merely intend to survive the next three years, without any hope and without a concrete vision of the future for the Filipinos," she said.

"Mukhang pagod ka na Ginoong Duterte. Magpahinga ka na lang," she added. Duterte has repeatedly broached the idea of relinquishing his post in the past, saying he is willing to cut short his term of office because he was supposedly feeling tired from solving the issues in relation to his war on drugs and corruption in government.