Loot garble from language gap

It is silly and absurd to conclude that PRRD is behind the ambush just because he misspeaks the Pilipino language.

Packed cages Inmates peer out from a metal grill at a city jail in Parañaque as the Senate resumes today the inquiry on controversies hounding the penal system, particularly the release of heinous crime convicts through the good conduct time allowance law meant to declog jails. AFP

President Rodrigo Duterte admitting that he ordered the ambush of Daanbantayan, Cebu Mayor Vicente Loot is ridiculous, Malacañang said, as it clarified the misinterpretation of his statement as the result of the Chief Executive’s unfamiliarity with the Tagalog language.

On Tuesday night, Duterte was quoted as saying: “Inambush kita, animal ka, buhay pa rin (I had you ambushed you animal, you’re still alive).”

His spokesman Salvador Panelo said the President misspoke since his native tongue is not Filipino.

“The statement was uttered by a Bisaya President who is not proficient in the vernacular language used in the capital city of Manila and in most areas in Luzon,” Panelo said in a statement.

He pointed out that what the President intended to say was: “You were ambushed, but you’re still alive.”

He explained that Duterte’s quote is shown in the transcripts of some of his previous speeches when he touched on the topic of Loot’s ambush.

“Let us be clear and categorical. The President did not order the ambush of Gen. Loot. It is silly and absurd to conclude that PRRD is behind the ambush just because he misspoke the Filipino language which is not his native tongue or first language,” he added.

Panelo said, by now, the public is already used to the way the President speaks, including which language he is more comfortable using.

“The Filipino nation by this time is already familiar and used to the language of the President who invariably uses a mixture of English, Bisaya (Cebuano dialect) and Pilipino in communicating with the nation,” he said.

Duterte previously blamed former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II as being behind Loot’s ambush, but Malacañang clarified that the President was just kidding.

Loot, a former general on Duterte’s “narco list,” was ambushed in Daanbatayan in May last year.

Sen. Lawrence Christopher “Bong” Go added that Mr. Duterte’s mention of the ambush of Loot during a speech was a warning and not an admission.

“You know the President. He talks like that always. Why would he say and admit that he was the one who ordered the ambush if he was really the one behind it? The President won’t do that.

Why would he admit if he was the one who ordered the ambush?” Go indicated.

“That is a warning to everyone who is involved in drugs, corruption, and criminality. That is a warning to all not only to elected officials,” he added.

Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said it was the personality of the President to speak about something due to disappointment.

“You know the President. I don’t know what he meant. But those things, it has two facets. First, due to his disappointment or his anger. He sometimes blurts out things that would be misconstrued. On the other hand, let’s assume that it is true. He is the President. What can you charge him with? Nothing,” according to Sotto.

Mr. Duterte, in his address, also said he won’t renege on his promise of a P1 million bounty for the capture of each convict, “dead or alive,” who fails to surrender to authorities by today’s end.

To recall, the Chief Executive on 4 September gave the more than 2,000 heinous crime convicts questionably freed under the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Law 15 days to peacefully turn themselves in or risk being rearrested with warrants.

“I said I will set the timeline and then the P1 million prize is available to those who can capture them dead or alive,” he told reporters on Tuesday night following the mass oathtaking of new government appointees in Malacañang.

He, however, quipped that seeing them dead would be “a better option.”

“I will pay you smiling,” Mr. Duterte expressed.

The President also stressed that no extension will be given for those who will not meet the deadline and will already be considered as fugitives.

As of last count, almost 700 GCTA beneficiaries have surrendered and were returned to the custody of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

The President similarly instructed Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra to fast-track the review of sentences being served by aging inmates, as well as those suffering from different serious illnesses.

“Me, I’ll ask the (next) administration, whoever will take over, or the Secretary of Justice to fast-track those who are sick and really old,” he said.

“I’ll set it at 70 years old or 75. They could no longer rob anyone. They can no longer run. They can’t do anything anymore, especially those aged 80 and above. Or if you are scared of a serial rapist, have him castrated first before being set free,” he added.

Mr. Duterte has been vocal about his opposition to prisoners convicted of heinous crimes and recidivists from benefiting from Republic Act (RA) 10592, the law that paved the way for the retroactive implementation of the GCTA Law.

The Palace earlier commended the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for “promptly completing the 2019 revised implementing rules and regulations (IRR)” of RA 10592 and has directed the BuCor “to study the new IRR and transmit the correct and up-to-date information to their staff for their proper guidance.”

The new guidelines have addressed the inaccuracies, as well as the loopholes of an earlier version, which generated confusion among officials in implementing the law and suspicions of it being exploited.

Go supported the President’s call saying that law enforcers should double their efforts in looking for the convicts since they are qualified to the P1 million reward.

“To law enforcers, it is your time to earn. So, after 19 September, you should work and find those who have not surrendered yet. That is P1 million (for each head),” Go said in an ambush interview.

He said the President is really offering the bounty and his remarks were not a simple joke.

“The President is not kidding. If he said reward, that really means he will be giving out the reward. If he said P5 million, you can really receive P5 million,” he added.

But when asked if the law enforcers were eligible for the reward money, he said it is up to Duterte’s reward system as he is not familiar with it and he has yet to consult the President about it.