IF HE did not act like a dictator, the country would not progress, President Rodrigo Duterte told a group of surrendered communist rebels Wednesday night at the Palace.
“You say I’m a dictator? I’m really a dictator. Because if I will not be a dictator, nothing will happen in this country,” Duterte told the more than 200 former New People’s Army rebels who had dinner with him in Malacañang.
Duterte’s remark was triggered by his critics of his plan to revise the 1987 Constitution to change the country’s form of government from a unitary system to a federal one.
“It is necessary. After all, you voted for me.” he said. “You have chosen me as your president. Why won’t you follow me when my dreams are all for you?”
Duterte said he felt insulted when he was portrayed by activists as a puppet of the United States.
“When did I become a puppet of the Americans?” he said.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III defended the President’s dictatorial style of leadership.
“That’s only style and he can and should do that within his branch, the executive branch,” said Pimentel, also PDP-Laban president.
But another ally of Duterte, Senator Panfilo Lacson, said the President was overstating the case.
“He is of course exaggerating since we all know there is no dictatorship prevailing in the country. He might be referring to his style of leadership towards his subalterns in the executive,” Lacson said.
He added that it pays to adopt that leadership style when dealing with shenanigans in the government bureaucracy.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, a harsh critic of the President, said nothing good has happened in the two years of Duterte’s dictatorial style.
“He just sowed chaos in the Philippines. He killed the poor, and burdened the lives of Filipinos and destroyed democratic institutions,” he said.
Opposition Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV said Filipinos do not need a dictator. Dictatorship, he said, brings violence, joblessness, corruption and a huge debt.
Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said Duterte’s style of leadership suited Filipinos. “We are stubborn,” he said.
House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said Duterte was merely exercising his powers within the limits of democracy.