Hiniling ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ngayong Huwebes na umiwas ang mga miyembro ng Kamara sa “political play” na maaaring makahadlang sa pag-apruba ng national budget, kasama na rin ang pondo para sa COVID-19 efforts ng bansa.

“Huwag naman sana ninyong sobrahan ang laro sa Congress na iyong budget mismo, ang nailagay sa alanganin. I am just appealing to you,

 Either you resolve the issue sa impasse ninyo diyan and pass the budget legally and constitutionally, ‘pag hindi ninyo ginawa, ako ang gagawa para sa inyo.

Hindi ako nananakot, wala akong ambisyon manakot, wala rin akong ambisyon na tatagal dito sa puwestong p****** i**** ‘to na puro problema. Wala akong ano — wala akong hangarin. Basta sinasabi ko lang, if you do not solve the problem, then I will solve the problem for you.

Mamili kayo, either we have a — the positive development na maligayahan iyong tao, iyong amo natin — iyong amo natin palagi naka sa huli iyan. Mamaya na iyang amo natin, mamamatay na muna iyan o mabubuhay iyan, medisina lang iyan, tapos nakakalimutan natin. We always forget that there is something more higher than just delaying or maneuvering in Congress because everybody wants to be Speaker.

I am not going to give a timeline. Hindi — mga diktador lang gumagawa ng ganoon. Gusto ko na ayusin ninyo, if and when I see that there will be a delay and it will result in the derailment of government service, I will, I said, solve the problem for you.

Iyan lang po. Sana maintindihan ninyo ako. I will not apologize for saying this because indeed we are all of the same dream and that is really by itself and alone, it is already an honor, it’s a dream fulfilled for any lawyer or any Filipino for that matter, to serve his country.

So let us keep that in mind and we will see in the next few days if there is really something that we can hope for. ‘Pag wala, then I will do my thing.”

~ Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte