There are many times that Senator Leila de Lima and President Rodrigo Duterte clashed even before the election, on 2015, when they are still former Department of Justice secretary and mayor of Davao City.
image: GMAnews
Remembering he famous line of Duterte, "Look at your own backyard," as he was referring to De Lima's accusation for alleged being link and head of the notorious Davao Death Squad.
However, during State of the Nation Address (SONA) of Duterte, De Lima only had positive words for the President after he delivered his first Sona on July 25, at Batasan.
Delima said that, what the Filipinos witnessed was the kind of speech expected from the firebrand chief executive and depicted the true state of the nation.
Senator said, “Vintage Duterte talaga yung speech: mix of serious stuff, light stuff, jokes, kapilyohan, merong wit. That is vintage Duterte. It’s the first Sona of that kind that he was able to depict of portray the real state of the nation in his own style na kinukuwento lang ang experience niya as a mayor and what the ordinary people would love to hear".
The senator was asked if she would oppose the proposals of the President such as the push from republic to federalism kind of government and would seek emergency powers to lessen the traffic congestion in Luzon, De Lima said it would depend on the nuances of the proposals.
Delima said, “The Senate and the House of Representatives are co-equal naman. Our mindset is not obstructionist. So whenever we clash, whenever we criticize, it is a constructive type criticism. It’s not for the sake of clashing with the executive department. It depends on the specific proposals".
“The devil is on the details, but we are open depending on the exact appearance of the proposal,” De Lima stated.
Even before De Lima was the former Commission of Human Rights (CHR)chairman, they already had several exchanges with Duterte in the past administration, as Delima wanted for a Senate probe that will investigate the alleged extrajudicial killings happening in Davao as Duterte was still the mayor.
But before the SONA has started, we could see that everything seems fine between the two as Duterte approached De Lima and shake hands and also make funny face, before he ascended toward the rostrum to deliver his awaited speech.
Surprisingly, De Lima admitted that she was flattered when Duterte stopped on her front just to shake her hand before going to the rostrum.
Source: Inquirer
