- Davao City mayor reacted to grilling incident in UPLB forum
- He calls questions of student about education and defense budget silly
- He explained that the LGU does not supply the weapons and equipment of the PNP and AFP
- He also said he refrained from calling out the student, as he did not want to shame him
MANILA, Philippines – Reacting to the incident at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) forum where a student told him to hurry with his answer to a question about the education and defense budget, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte downplayed the grilling and the questions as ‘a bit silly’.
“It was a motherhood statement and because the questions were a bit silly,” he told ABS-CBN, in response to criticism he was not direct with his answers. “For example, one was asking why the guns of the Army [in Davao] look better than the rest of the soldiers he saw around in Mindanao. I was about to tell him you do not have be a smart aleck.”
Continuing, Duterte explained that the local government of Davao City does not supply the arms and equipment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police. He also said he did not want to embarrass the student who asked the question.
“We do not supply the arms of the Army, it’s the Armed Forces of the Philippines. They are just deployed in the city by the Armed Forces, by the contingencies of the moment. We have nothing to do with the army of anyone here… Ayaw ko namang hiyain,” he said.
During the forum, the student repeatedly asked Duterte how he would increase the defense budget without slashing the education budget which he promised would receive a higher priority under his term. During the exchange, he told the mayor to hurry up with his answer so he can go home.
Video:
Post a Comment