By Azer Parrocha – PNA
MANILA — The continuous attacks of critics against President Rodrigo R. Duterte are “falling flat on their faces” with the rise of the Chief Executive’s approval and trust ratings, Malacañang said on Monday.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo made this remark after the recent Pulse Asia Survey, conducted Dec. 14 to 21, 2018, showed that the President received an approval and trust rating of 81 and 76 percent, respectively, despite attacks hurled by his critics and detractors.
“The December 2018 Pulse Asia rating should serve as a timely reminder to the rabid political opposition, especially to the loose cannonball critic, outgoing Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, that the continuous assaults against the President and his administration are falling flat on their faces with the rise of PRRD’s approval and trust ratings,” Panelo said in a statement.
“Senator Trillanes’ rants go against the sentiments of 81 percent of Filipinos approving the President’s performance and the 76 percent trusting him as our Chief Executive,” he added.
Panelo said the survey figures showed that Filipinos are fed up with politicking and are contented with the President’s leadership.
“The handwriting on the wall as graphically shown by the survey figures is glaring. Our people are fed up with the destructive politicking dished out by the opposition and PRRD’s critics and detractors,” Panelo said.
“Filipinos want to maintain the visible and continuing genuine change, as well as the tangible results they are witnessing and experiencing under the current leadership of the President,” he added.
Panelo, meanwhile, urged the political opposition to engage the administration in “a healthy debate of programs and platforms productive and beneficial to the Filipino people” instead of criticizing.
‘Baliw’
Trillanes is currently facing a complaint for grave threats, which stems from the senator’s alleged confrontation with Labor Undersecretary Jacinto “Jing” Paras, where the lawmaker allegedly “threaten(ed) to kill the private complainant Jacinto Paras.”
Earlier, the Pasay City Metropolitan Trial Court has set for Feb. 15 the hearing on the grave threat complaint filed by Paras against Trillanes.
Panelo said that Trillanes, who has repeatedly called the President “baliw” (crazy), must be referring to himself.
“Senator Trillanes’ latest attack against the President, even calling him ‘baliw’ because criminal charges have been filed against him for his transgressions is a distorted, if not a fallacious argumentation,” Panelo said.
“When he described PRRD as ‘baliw’, he must have been referring to himself and correctly so,” he added.
Panelo said that although Trillanes claimed he is not afraid of facing the criminal suits against him, his rantings show “that he is in mortal fear of going back to jail.”
He, meanwhile, said that he expects the political noise to escalate further with the election period for the May midterm polls in the horizon.
