MANILA - Sen. Panfilo Lacson rejected Wednesday President Rodrigo Duterte's remark that the lawmaker is "trying to be a crusader but [is] ignorant."

Duterte made the remark Tuesday in reaction to how the senator and Vice President Leni Robredo criticized him for saying that police officers should accept gifts if these are given out of gratitude or generosity.

"Is this not graft Mr. President? Pray tell, who is ignorant?," Lacson said in a Twitter post that also shared an article about Duterte's stand on gifts.

The senator also said the President "was exaggerating when he said that I have the penchant to comment on every issue."

"Aside from from my Twitter posts, I only comment on issues when asked, and not even all the time. I play 'dedma' when I am not familiar with the issue," he said in a statement.

"I may not be a lawyer but I know how to read and understand the law that I read, or ask my lawyer-staff when I don't."

Duterte was earlier quoted as saying that Lacson's "penchant to just right away [make comments] in every issue… I think he’s running for President."

"I am not even sure if I want to run for President, so I do not know what he is talking about," said Lacson.