‘Serial killer’ tag on Duterte unfair – senators

Senators allied with Presi- dent Duterte branded as “unfair” a French newspaper article describing him as a “serial killer president.”

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said the report of Liberation was unfair as the newspaper apparently did not conduct any in-depth investigative work before they came up with their conclusion.

“I would not lose sleep over the coverage of the President with the foreign media. They’ve different standards, different culture. I don’t know what made the editor of that particular paper jump to a hasty conclusion that the President was a serial killer. What is his evidence? Did they just get it from the internet?” Pimentel told reporters.

“I don’t know why they are more knowledgeable about happenings in the Philippines than Filipinos themselves. Maybe they needed to sell some issues,” he added.

Pimentel argued the alleged summary killings in the Duterte administration’s war on drugs cannot be attributed to Duterte, and the Senate is conducting an investigation into it.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito described the article as “a very sweeping and a judgmental angle on part of the French newspaper.”

“Without President Duterte, the world wouldn’t have discovered that the drug problem in the Philippines is this bad. Of course in his war against drugs, there would be casualties and collateral damage but that does not make the President a serial killer,” he added.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III said the French newspaper was misled allegedly by a public relations group against Duterte that has connections abroad.

For Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno, calling Duterte a serial killer is “too much.”

“They (foreign media) don’t see our problem. I think that commentary is very unfair and they don’t really know the problem,” Sueno said in a interview with dzMM.

Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian noted Duterte is getting a lot of international publicity for his controversial remarks and his war against illegal drugs.

He suggested that Malacañang’s communication team should highlight the recent Social Weather Stations survey that 84 percent of the public agrees with the war on drugs, and the 76 percent approval rating of Duterte.

The high ratings are “clearly a manifestation that the drug problem in our country is real and the President is doing everything he can to eliminate that problem,” Gatchalian said.

Sen. Leila de Lima, a critic of the administration, pointed out that “the local media and the international press are not deaf and dumb.”