Duterte to Magdalo group: You did nothing for the country

President Rodrigo Duterte and Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano. File/Composite

MYANMAR - President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday taunted Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano, who filed the first impeachment complaint against him in Congress last week.

Alejano had called for Duterte's impeachment for allegedly condoning extra-judicial killings in his war on drugs and amassing some P2 billion in hidden wealth.

Alejano said he is studying whether to include in the complaint allegations Duterte had secret deals with China after Chinese survey ships were found in the Benham Rise area off the Philippines' Pacific coast.

But Duterte mocked Alejano, saying he will be glad to order the former soldier turned lawmaker to fight Beijing's forces in the disputed waters.

“For one, if he wants to fight in China, he could lead… I would be glad to send him as the first batch of delegation of Filipinos who want to take the Spratlys island and all of these occupied now—sige. Siya ang mauna,” Duterte said in a speech before the Filipino community in Myanmar.

Duterte hit Alejano's Magdalo party-list, accusing them of doing nothing for the country apart from mounting failed coup de etats.

"Ano ba ginawa ng grupo nila? What have you done for the country? Nothing, except to make noise and that really happened during your mutiny. You were forgiven by a president na ewan ko and you enjoy your freedom now because of one man. But what you did to the country was really something out of--tapos kayo pa mayabang. Ano ba pinagyayabang ninyo?

"You had your chance to show your bravery. Do not s*** with me. May panahon na dapat lumaban kayo. 'Yung itlog ninyo dumating naman sa bunganga ninyo. Tapos sabihin niyo bravery. Eh di lumaban na sana kayo. Pinanindigan niyo sarili niyo. If I were you i’d stop boasting about bravery and all of these things. You are incapable of doing it. you have had your chance to show to the Filipinos. Your bravery was tested and you failed miserably. so do not talk about bravery and all of these things. You are actually a shame. Pinag-aral kayo, ginastuhan ng gobyerno tapos ganun ang iyong ginawa sa bayan.”



Alejano, Senator Antonio Trillanes and other Magdalo members were among the rebel junior officers who tried to oust President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo over corruption allegations during the 2003 Oakwood mutiny and the 2007 Manila Peninsula siege.

The mutineers spent 7 years in jail but were granted amnesty by President Benigno Aquino III.

DUTERTE ON CHINA

In the same speech, Duterte maintained that the Philippines cannot force China to stop its activities in the West Philippine Sea on its own.

"It will be slaughter for the Filipinos to do that," he said.

Even the United States, he pointed out, was unable to bring Beijing to heel.

"Di mapigilan kasi di natin kaya ang China. Hindi nga mapigilan ng Amerikano. In the first place, pag-umpisa pa lang niyan, di na napigilan ng Amerikano. Natakot na. May mga armas 'yun, baril, eroplano, lahat. Ngayon tinutulak nila tayo para makipag-away. And it would be a massacre," he said.

Duterte added that while the Philippines cannot confront China for now, "Someday during my term as President, I would have to confront you (Beijing) about the arbitral ruling and that would be maybe during the time you begin to extract minerals and the riches of what is inside the bowels of the earth."

The President also called on the ASEAN to come up with a code of conduct for claimants of the disputed waters.