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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 3) – President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at his critics on Monday after being out of the public eye during the Super Typhoon Rolly attack.
The strongest storm this year hit the Bicol region on Sunday with thousands of homes destroyed, left billions of damage to property and agriculture and killed 20 people, according to the latest tally by the Office of Civil Defense of the Region 5.
“You said I was not here because I was not, in the province, so what is your problem? The papers were sent and then I signed. I will send again. Hey machine that’s it,“Duterte said in a meeting with cabinet members and disaster officials in Malacañang.
[Translation: Those who said that I was not here because I was in the province, so, what’s your problem? The documents were sent, I signed them and sent them back. Those can be done through a machine.]The president said he was in his hometown, Davao City, when the super typhoon hit Bicol and parts of southern Luzon. He also skipped an emergency briefing on Sunday, led by the National Council for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, where government officials assessed the damage left by Rolly.
Many netizens used the hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo and #PatayNaBa, which were trending online for hours on Sunday, to express their disgust at Duterte’s absence.
Duterte noted that those who live in provinces like him regularly travel to his hometown for vacations and celebrate occasions such as All Saints ‘Day and All Souls’ Day. He visited his parents’ grave in Davao city last Wednesday.
“So I finished. These idiots, on the other hand, said that I wasn’t there. I was waiting for the typhoon to pass, then I flew,” he said.
[Translation: This is why I came home. Then this stupid people say I’m absent. I was waiting for the typhoon to pass, then I flew.]Duterte also sarcastically mentioned the controversial crushed dolomite beach in Manila Bay when shooting at his critics.
“Do you want me to stand on the white sand? [crushed dolomite beach] from [Environment Secretary] Roy Cimatu just to see that I’m here? ”, Added the president.
Duterte led the aerial reconnaissance of Albay and Catanduanes, provinces hardly affected by Rolly. He later visited the town of Guinobatan in Albay to personally see the damage inflicted by the super typhoon.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque explained at a news conference Monday afternoon that Duterte needed to rest on a Sunday.
“We were expecting to make landfall yesterday, and it was also Sunday. Just because the president was in Mindanao doesn’t mean he wasn’t working. The president works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” Roque said.
Super Typhoon Rolly has weakened to a tropical storm as it is expected to leave the Philippines Area of Responsibility on Tuesday morning. He made four calls on Sunday in the towns of Bato, Catanduanes; Tiwi, Albay; San Narciso, Quezon; and Lobo, Batangas.
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