EU still wants a piece of Duterte, PH—Gordon

Sen. Richard Gordon. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Despite President Rodrigo Duterte’s incessant attacks against the European Union (EU), its ambassadors would like him to visit their countries and have an audience with them.

Senator Richard Gordon said he and Senate President Aqulino “Koko” Pimentel III met with the ambassadors last week where the latter expressed their sentiments on the President.

“Nag-meeting kami ng mga ambassador, nila SP Pimentel, andun ‘yung mga ambassador ng EU at sila’y medyo nagtatampo na. Hindi nabibigyan ng kara-kadakang pansin ang European countries, e malaki ang tulong ng European community dito. E syempre nagpapansin din ‘yang mga ‘yan na madalaw din sila siguro ng Pangulo dahil ang sabi ko nga inuna n’ya ‘yung China dahil medyo napabayaaan ‘yung relasyon natin sa China,” Gordon said in a phone patch interview with Senate reporters on Wednesday.

(Senate President Pimentel and I met with the EU ambassadors and they are moping. They feel like we are not giving enough attention to European countries when the European community has made big investments here. They also want the President to visit them, but I explained to them that he prioritized China because of the Philippines’ strained relationship with it.)

Just last week, Duterte unleashed fresh tirades against the EU for allegedly meddling in the affairs of the Philippines.

READ: Duterte drops the ‘F bomb’ on EU anew

But during the meeting, Gordon said the ambassadors did not raise Duterte’s tirades against the EU as well as the issue on the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the country.

“Ang sinasabi lang nila ay hindi sila napapansin (They just said that they are not being given the right attention),” he said.

“They feel that they want a little bit more attention to Europe because Europe is a very major trading partner of the country. They employ a lot of people. Sinabi nga nila e bigyan n’yo naman kami ng pansin (They said ‘pay us some attention’)…” the senator said.

Gordon said the ambassadors also mentioned about being not able to defend the President from the negative reports that were coming out in the media.

“They wanted a dialogue with us, to sit with the President because ang feeling nila ambassador kami, sana paminsan-minsan mag uusap din kami ditto (‘we are ambassadors, we should be communicating)…”

“Syempre labas nang labas dito, nagla-lobby talaga ‘yung mga tao ni De Lima dun e. E hindi nasasagot maigi ang lumalabas dito. Tinatanong sila, hindi sila nakakasagot kaya gusto rin nila makausap ang Presidente,” the senator added.

(The backers of De Lima continue to lobby there. The issues are not being addressed properly. We confronted them, but they could not answer, that’s why they also want to talk to the President.)
Gordon was referring to Duterte’s vocal critic, Senator Leila De Lima, who has been charged and detained at Camp Crame over her alleged involvement on illegal drugs. The EU parliament called for De Lima’s release, noting that she, along with journalists and human rights activists, faces threats in this political climate.

READ: EU Parliament calls for release of De Lima

It was De Lima, who initiated a Senate probe on the alleged rise of summary killings in the country since Duterte’s assumption in office. IDL

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