MANILA, Philippines – Vice presidential candidate Sen. Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV on Wednesday pictured presidential aspirant Davao City Mayor Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte’s presidency as a disaster for the Philippines.
"It's going to be a disaster for the country," Trillanes said in a recorded interview with ANC’s Beyond Politics.
Trillanes made the comment when asked how he will describe a Duterte presidency. He cited the mayor’s methods of disciplining and governing citizens as his reasons for saying so.
The senator said Duterte’s disciplinary method may have worked in Davao but he said it will not be effective if implemented in the whole country.
"You don't just say 'I'm going to rid criminality in three to six months.' What are you going to do? Are they going to implement the 'Pol Pot formula' which has failed before? Or a milder version which is a draconian environment like the Martial Law years?" Trilanes said.
“His method may have worked in Davao, but it’s definitely not going to work in the national scale. You don’t run the country like that. There should be a vision, a program of action that you would actually have to enumerate,” he added.
Trillanes also cited extra judicial killings attributed to the mayor which he said may result to allowing citizens to kill also.
“Once you start the killing, you won’t be able to stop it and everybody else would have that license to kill and hide under the cover of this guy being killed is an addict, regardless of whether he’s actually just a business rival or a personal rival. You won’t be able to stop that,” he said.
In the interview, Trillanes, a known rival of Vice President Jejomar “Jojo” Binay, said he prefers the vice president more when asked to choose between Binay and Duterte, describing the presidency of the latter as “worse.”
“I can’t imagine myself saying this, but it’s going to be so much worse,” Trillanes said.
Trillanes said that although he will accept Binay as president if elected by the voters, he said he will not let pass the corruption issues he raised against the vice president.
"If it's a Binay presidency, God forbid, then we'll have to respect the mandate that's given to him," Trillanes said.
"But it doesn't mean I'm going to turn a blind eye on his ways, because I am sure 100 percent that he will not change. If you put a plunderer into the presidency, you don't expect the guy to be a saint. Expect him to plunder more." he added.