‘KUNG SINTONADO KA, UMALIS KA SA CHOIR’
De Lima kay VP Sara:
MULING hinamon ni dating Sen. Leila de Lima si Vice President Sara Duterte na magbitiw sa Gabinete bilang kalihim ng Department of Education (DepEd) kung ipagpapatuloy ang ginagawa nitong pagkontra sa mga polisiya ni Pangulong Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.
Ikinumpara ni De Lima ang pagpapahayag ni Duterte ng hindi nito pagsang-ayon sa mga polisiya ng Pangulo sa isang miyembro ng choir na hindi akma ang tono sa kanyang mga kasama.
“As a matter of principle, no Cabinet minister in the world can do that without being challenged by the Cabinet to stop singing a divergent tune. Kung sintunado ka, paalisin ka sa choir,” said De Lima.
Matatandaan na kinontra ni Duterte ang sinabi ni Pangulong Marcos kaugnay ng pagbabalik ng Pilipinas sa International Criminal Court (ICC), na nagsasagawa ng imbestigasyon kaugnay ng madugong war on drugs ng kanyang ama na si dating Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
Kinontra rin ni Duterte ang naging desisyon ng Pangulo na muling buksan ang usapang pangkapayapaan sa pagitan ng gobyerno at mga komunistang grupo at tinawag na niya itong “deal with the devil.”
“Let me further elucidate – This is nothing new. In all governments in the world, a Cabinet minister is only expected to resign as such once s/he voices out different policies than the Cabinet publicly,” sabi ni De Lima.
“All Cabinet secretaries are alter egos of the President. An alter ego cannot have a different mind than the President. Kaya nga alter ego. Otherwise, separate ego na ‘yun kung palagi ka na lang nag-o-oppose sa principal mo,” dagdag pa ni De Lima.
Sinabi ni De Lima na kung ang akala ni Duterte ang kanyang papel bilang Bise Presidente at kontrahin ang Pangulo ay nagkakamali siya.
“Maybe she is voicing contrary policy statements because she thinks it’s her role as VP. As VP she can do that. But she must not forget that she is still a Cabinet secretary bound to alter ego principle in the executive branch,” ani De Lima.
“If she wants to keep voicing contrary policy positions to the Cabinet, she should be shorn of her alter ego role first. She cannot eat her cake and keep it too. The problem with VP is her mindset that she is a president-in-waiting or worse, a co-president entitled to oppose the President in his own Cabinet. She cannot do that,” pagpapatuloy ng dating senador.
“No self-respecting Cabinet in the world will tolerate a rogue minister who publicly challenges executive/Cabinet policy. That is a given. My observation is not personal to Sara. It is just the way how Cabinets all over the world work. You sing out of tune, you either get out or are kicked out,” dagdag pa nito.
