Dispatch from Crame No. 779:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's Comments on Duterte's April 24 Taped Address

Four years into Mr. Duterte's presidency, we have come to understand the pattern of his failures. He promises the heavens to seduce the gullible. He fails. He makes excuses and looks for someone to blame. Someone else cleans up his mess. He takes the credit.

Hindi natin dapat kalimutan na nandito tayo kasi pinabayaan ni G. Duterte ang patuloy na pagpasok ng mga Tsino dito sa ating bansa sa kabila ng mga babala ng mga eksperto. Hindi niya pinangunahan nang maayos ang operasyon ng ating gobyerno kaya huli nang dumating ang mga ayuda, huli na ang ating mga preparasyon, at nalilito kundi man naguguluhan ang sambayanan.

It was reported that poor orchestration within the government prompted our chief economist Ernesto Pernia to resign.

Now, Mr. Duterte keeps pinning the blame on the NPA and threatening to declare martial law. Our armed forces can function to protect our country even without martial law. Mr. Duterte seems to think that he can only command our forces under extreme legal conditions. If indeed there is an insurgency problem, he can deploy our troops anytime. Pero paulit-ulit niyang binabanggit ang NPA sa mga speech niya para hindi mapansin ang kaniyang sariling kakulangan at kapalpakan.

I entertain a belief that Mr. Duterte's poor leadership is causing our government to overspend and use our funds inefficiently. In spite of billions of pesos of funds already released, it is hardly making a dent. The effect is just barely felt by our countrymen. Many of the support to our frontliners are through the efforts from the private sector.

Mr. Duterte harps on not having enough money to fund the COVID-19 response program and has consistently floated the idea of selling the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) to augment the funds. There are other sources of funds that he can tap into. He can defund non-essential infrastructure projects like multipurpose halls in the DPWH budget worth P57 billion. He can demand the payment of P50 billion tax liability of POGOs. We also already have around P610 billion in additional funding from the BSP and foreign lenders.

Bakit ba patuloy niya ginigiit na ibenta yung CCP? Mukhang may mga nag-iinteres sa CCP Complex na patuloy na bumubulong kay G. Duterte. Katabi halos ito ng Entertainment City kung saan naroon ang mga casino.

There is a clear solution to the problems that Mr. Duterte keeps on raising during his weekly address. Tumabi-tabi na sya at hayaang magtrabaho ang talagang marunong, magaling at masipag.

"The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it." -Lou Holtz

(Access the handwritten copy of Dispatch from Crame No. 779, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatch_no._779)