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Miriam: Duterte most dangerous presidential candidate

Trishia Billones,

ABS-CBN News

 | 

Updated May 06, 2016 03:34 PM PHT

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For presidential candidate Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is the most dangerous for the Philippines if elected president.

Santiago called the threat of one of Duterte's staunch supporters "almost seditious."

"Right now, his most trusted man, Pastor (Apollo) Quiboloy of Davao City has already announced that if the elections don’t turn out for Duterte, he is going to personally lead a revolution," she said.

"What kind of talk is that? That is almost seditious. And this is for a man of the cloth," she added.

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Quiboloy is the head of the Davao-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ the Name Above Every Name religious group. Duterte has admitted that he has received gifts from the pastor and his camp maintained that there's nothing wrong with this.

Santiago said unlike the public's former knowledge of Duterte as a "straight-shooting mayor" who is almost penniless, "masyadong malalim itong Duterte na ito."

"What about the plunder charge filed against him by Trillanes? We don’t have any acceptable reason for all those accusations against him," she added.

The senator also does not believe that Duterte's deep ties with the New People's Army (NPA) would revive peace talks with the rebel group.

Communism, she said, is an ideology that cannot be tied down to words on paper, and "nobody is going to pay any attention to those words. The communists, she added, live an ideology that runs counter to the country's democratic beliefs.

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"They will act on the basis of their own ideology, which is that government is bad, and always, government should as much as possible be given directly to the citizenry. Iba ang pananaw nila sa ating demokrasya."

Santiago meanwhile said Grace Poe, who has packaged herself as the stable candidate, would be one of the millions of people competent to run for the presidency if stability is the main characteristic of a president.

However, academic, professional, and moral excellence are the characteristics of a president the Philippines need, Santiago said.

On academic excellence, she said, "nag-graduate ba with honors sa unibersidad yan? Dahil kung hindi, bakit natin iboboto ang pinaka-bobo sa klase o kaya isa sa pinaka-bobo, just because he has a lot of propaganda going for him?"

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Professional excellence, she said, is apparent in the awards a public servant has been given by his peers, "recognizing his competence in the field. E saan ang mga awards ng mga ito?"

Lastly, on moral excellence, Santiago said as early as now, the candidates are already showing their desperation for the presidency to the point of cheating.

"Ngayon pa lang, nakikita na natin ang mga hakbang na ginagawa nila para madaya nila ang eleksyon. At kung ganun pala, as I said before, di na tayo dapat mag-halalan; mag-auction na lang tayo."

In a dZMM interview, anchor Karen Davila recalled, Santiago said had she not run for the presidency, she may have endorsed Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel "Mar" Roxas III, who she considers a friend in the Senate.

But the acclaimed stateswoman said she no longer would because she has seen on "the field many pieces of evidence against his honesty and integrity in this elections."

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"Government vehicles have been photographed—and the photos have been posted on Facebook—being used so that they could go from place to place and put up his posters. There are documented evidence that people are paid to attend his events," she said.

"If that is the case, we return to my old theory that the presidency can be bought; that’s why we don’t need elections anymore, we just need to put up an auction and auction off the presidency," she added.

Santiago said "it's very, very disappointing" that Roxas is not being true to 'Daang Matuwid.'

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