Push Admin

Duterte willing to start Constitutional crisis to defend corrupt people: Gordon

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Sen. Richard " dick="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/11/02/gordon-duterte.jpg"/><figcaption>Sen. Richard &quot;Dick&quot; Gordon (L) and President Rodrigo Duterte (R). <em>Composite/File</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - Sen. Richard &quot;Dick&quot; Gordon on Friday continued his verbal exchange with President Rodrigo Duterte after the latter ordered the country&#x27;s police and military to &quot;stay out&quot; of the Senate probe into Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corp, possibly starting a &quot;Constitutional crisis.&quot;</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/01/21/duterte-to-senate-sergeant-at-arms-dont-arrest-anybody">Duterte warns police, military: Do not get involved in Senate probe on Pharmally</a></li></ul><p>Gordon, in a statement, said the Senate is only doing its job &quot;to fight and right the corruption of the President&#x27;s appointees and friends whose greed has deprived so many of our countrymen&quot; of financial aid, vaccination opportunities and healthcare.</p><p>The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee is currently conducting a probe on Pharmally, a company that supplied allegedly overpriced and substandard face masks, face shields and other medical equipment to the government.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/09/27/21/read-what-has-been-uncovered-so-far-at-senate-probe-on-pharmally">LIST: Alleged anomalies uncovered at Senate probe on Pharmally</a></li></ul><p>Duterte has blasted the panel’s conduct of the hearings, calling them a “waste of time,” and also threatened to &quot;find what’s wrong with&quot; the lawmakers. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/11/21/duterte-to-senators-well-find-whats-wrong-with-you">Duterte to COVID-19 deal probers: Find fault in us, we&#x27;ll find what&#x27;s wrong with you</a></li></ul><p>His recent order to the military and police and threat of issuing a memorandum prohibiting Cabinet members from attending any Senate probe is calamitous, Gordon said.</p><p>&quot;It is catastrophic for our country that the President is willing to provoke a Constitutional crisis to protect these corrupt people who have lined their pockets with our people&#x27;s money and now go around in ostentatious displays of ill-gotten wealth, driving around in multimillion-peso luxury cars and living in mansions while our people continue to suffer, starve and die,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Of this cover-up, the President has a lot to explain to the people who entrusted their futures to him and who now have nothing but hopelessness and despair.&quot;</p><p>Sen. Risa Hontiveros said earlier Friday that Duterte&#x27;s recent threat was &quot;regrettable.&quot;</p><p>“It’s also regrettable that the president should even instruct the [Philippine National Police] not to assist our [Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms] or Senate security in case they request assistance from the police in order to continue conducting our hearings,” she said on ANC’s “Headstart.”</p><p>Hontiveros said Duterte’s orders, if carried out, would deliver a serious blow to the legislative process.</p><p>The President&#x27;s former economic adviser, Chinese businessman Michael Yang, has been linked to the allegedly dubious deals.</p><p>A government video earlier showed Duterte meeting Pharmally executives with Yang in attendance in Davao City in March 2017, regarding the company&#x27;s possible business activities in the country.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1782611" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Sen. Richard Gordon on Friday continued his verbal exchange with President Rodrigo Duterte.