Palace dismisses Duterte’s threat vs COA as another joke

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Wednesday once again said President Rodrigo Duterte was only joking when he suggested kidnapping and torturing Commission on Audit personnel.

Duterte on Tuesday railed against the audit agency anew for supposedly making things difficult for local governments.

“Ah, p******** ‘yang COA na ‘yan. L****. Kasi ‘yung COA, everytime may mali talaga. Ano ba itong COA na ito? Gusto mo mag-kidnap tayo ng taga-COA, ilagay natin, i-torture natin dito?” the chief executive said.

(These sons of b****** in COA. That COA, everytime, there is always something wrong. What’s up with this COA? What if we kidnap someone from COA, we torture them here?)

But presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that the president “was obviously joking.”

“The more you criticize his style, the more he will stick to his mischief,” Panelo said.

He added that Duterte was “chiding COA not to derail ongoing government protocols that go against the letter and intent of the law.”

This was not the first time that Duterte expressed his displeasure with the audit body. Last September, he said that a COA employee should be pushed down the stairs after ranting on the agency’s supposed prohibition on government spending.

CHR: Torture, kidnapping should not be used as joke

The Commission on Human Rights expressed alarm over the remark of the president, noting that torture and kidnapping are prohibited by laws.

“As crimes, these are grave human rights violations that should not be taken lightly or be used as a joke, especially used to challenge the mandate of a constitutionally-mandated body such as the Commission on Audit,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline De Guia said.

De Guia stressed that state auditors are only ensuring that government funds are well-spent.

“Dialogue and cooperation are better routes in improving the way government bodies deliver services to the people rather than public discrediting functions which may cast doubt on how an agency performs its duty,” she said.