De Lima describes Duterte as ‘plastic and fake like the beach of the dolomites’ after his speech at the UN

MANILA, Philippines – “Plastic and as fake as the beach in the dolomites.”

This is what Senator Leila de Lima said when describing President Rodrigo Duterte when he invoked the arbitration victory of the Philippines against China in the South China Sea dispute before the United Nations general assembly.

“I have only one word to describe the Duterte who spoke to the UNGA (General Assembly of the United Nations) last night. The plastic. As fake as the beach in the Dolomites, his government spent millions in the middle of a pandemic, ”said De Lima, one of Duterte’s staunchest critics, in a dispatch written from Camp Crame, where she is currently detained.

Manila and Beijing have long been mired in a maritime dispute and in 2013, the Philippines filed a case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague challenging China’s broad claim over almost the entire South China Sea, including parts of the Philippines. Western. Sea.

In July 2016, the Hague-based court ruled in favor of the Philippines invalidating China’s nine-line claim, but Beijing has repeatedly refused to acknowledge the ruling.

Duterte has been criticized for overturning the landmark 2016 arbitration ruling and also received criticism for saying it was “useless” and “can do nothing” to counter China’s aggression in the South China Sea.

But President, in a taped speech to the United Nations early Wednesday (local time), said the Manila victory is “now part of international law, beyond compromise and beyond the reach of passing governments to dilute, diminish or Leave”.

Do not hesitate

De Lima said it was “almost incredible” that the president could behave in his prerecorded speech before the international body.

“Since he had no live audience during the recording, we all know this is not the Duterte we see on his late night show every Monday,” he said.

“That is why we also very much doubt whether what he said was his, or simply what he was given,” he added.

De Lima said the only indication that it was indeed the executive director who was speaking was his “usual attack” on human rights defenders.

“However, there are several indications that it is not the Duterte we know who was speaking last night,” he added.

De Lima said she was shocked by Duterte’s “sudden” invocation of the Manila victory in 2016.

Duterte is now calling on the United Nations to recognize the landmark ruling after four years of “betraying the… hard-won decision to win favor with China,” according to the senator.

He added that the President did not have to remind the United Nations to recognize that failure.

“The UN recognizes the validity and legal force of international arbitration awards as a matter of international law. Only Duterte has renounced it in her four years of prostration before China, “said De Lima.

‘Smells like arrogant double talk’

According to her, Duterte’s “volte-face” in the Manila-Beijing maritime dispute in her speech is “very dubious and smacks of an arrogant double-talk on a foreign policy issue that has long been decided in favor of China. “.

De Lima said it is now too late for the chief executive to be a “defender” of the arbitration award and the sovereignty of the Philippines after he “has repeatedly bowed to China as its number one lapdog in Asia and the world.”

The senator was also surprised that Duterte “had a lot to say” about law, justice and human rights.

“This is not what we hear Duterte say before a Filipino audience. We know that he hates human rights and has in fact instigated the summary execution of the poor countless times, ”he said.

“He also had a lot to say about climate change and the environment. But in reality, his government just dumped tons of harmful dolomite into Manila Bay as a front stunt to counter public dismay over his regime’s hesitant response to the pandemic amid corruption scandals at PhilHealth and other government agencies. key, ”said De Lima as well. .

While de Lima criticized Duterte’s speech to the United Nations, several of his colleagues praised the executive director for invoking the 2016 arbitration award.

However, the senators Francis Pangilinan and Risa Hontiveros said Duterte’s invocation of the ruling should now be put into practice.

“I welcome President Duterte’s public recognition of our 2016 legal victory against China over our disputed waters. This declaration is a crucial and much-needed step in asserting our rights to the Western Philippine Sea, ”Hontiveros said in a separate statement.

“I hope that when he addresses us, his compatriots, he will remain true to his resolve to reject any attempt to subvert this ruling … The president’s resolution must also reflect reality,” he added. [ac]

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