Rody: De Lima is bugokski

MANILA, Philippines – After engaging his rivals in the presidential race in a word war, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has someone else in his crosshairs: Leila de Lima.

The former justice secretary and human rights chief, who is running for a Senate seat, has criticized Duterte for his human rights record.

A miffed Duterte described De Lima as “bugokski” –  slang for stupid.

“She wanted me punished for my statement in the Senate. Ang sinabi ko, bright ka man kaya, pareho tayo ng eskwelahan, bakit bugokski ka? (I said, you are intelligent, we came from the same school, then why are you stupid?),” Duterte said, referring to his spat with De Lima during a Senate hearing on the alleged rice smuggling activities of Davidson Bangayan.

The mayor said during the hearing that he would “gladly kill” Bangayan if he sets foot in Davao City and is caught smuggling rice there.

De Lima, then chair of the Commission on Human Rights, said the statement was disturbing and the mayor should be warned.

Duterte, who gave a speech in yesterday’s book launching of “Dante Jimenez: The Crusade Continues” at Century Park Hotel in Manila, also recalled that De Lima, then already a justice secretary, wanted to get incriminating evidence from him on the killing of Alfredo Mendoza.

“Ang drama ng gaga (Her drama was)... ‘Mr. Mayor, you were overheard one day (talking) about a certain Alfredo Mendoza. What is horrible is, two days after that, he was found dead with a gunshot wound in the head. What can you say about that?” Sabi ko, ambot, (I said, ‘I don’t know’),” he said, drawing applause and laughter.