Calling out those behind the alleged signature-buying for a people’s initiative for Charter change, lawyer Harry Roque said people still clamor for former president Rodrigo Duterte’s leadership because “he has one word” and sticks to it. This is false.
It runs counter to Duterte’s past pronouncements that showed he had changed his mind on multiple issues that beleaguered his administration.
STATEMENT
During a prayer rally in Cebu City on Feb. 25, Roque gave a 10-minute impassioned speech, warning Filipinos of repeating a “dark time in history” when power-hungry politicians ruled the country.
Duterte’s former spokesman then singled out the ex-president as a leader who does not lie and fulfills his promises. He said:
“Pinaka-importante, meron pong isang salita… na ‘pag sinabing ‘I hate drugs, I will not take drugs’. […] Magtataka ba sila kung bakit hinahanap-hanap ngayon ang [dating] presidente Rodrigo Roa Duterte? Dahil siya [ay] may isang salita.”
(Most importantly, [Duterte] has one word… that when he says he hates drugs, he does not take drugs. Will others even wonder why until today, people still look for [former] president Rodrigo Roa Duterte? That’s because he has one word.)
Source: Sonshine Media, FULL SPEECH | Atty. Harry Roque sa isinagawang prayer rally sa Cebu City, Feb. 25, 2024, watch from 4:03 to 5:43
FACT
When he was president, Duterte changed his position several times on key issues, such as on his promises to curb corruption and rid the country of illegal drugs. Three years into the presidency in 2019, Duterte said he “cannot control drugs,” a shift from his promise in 2016 to eradicate illegal drugs within three to six months.
In 2017, Duterte vowed to have a 101% clean government. Before ending his term in 2022, he said nobody can stop corruption.
(Read VERA FILES FACT SHEET: Duterte’s ‘never-ending’ fight against drugs and corruption in his own words (Part 1) and VERA FILES FACT SHEET: Duterte’s ‘never-ending’ fight against drugs and corruption in his own words (Part 2))
Duterte, in a speech on Dec. 3, 2018, said he used to take marijuana to stay awake but had stopped because he was aging. Later that day, the former president walked back on this statement, saying the remark was made in jest.
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Sources
GMA News Youtube Channel, REPLAY: PiliPinas Debates 2016 (commercial-free), Feb. 23, 2016
RTVMalacañang, PDP – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) Malabon City Campaign Rally (Speech) 4/2/2019, April 2, 2019
RTVMalacañang, 2017 State of the Nation Address, July 24, 2017
RTVMalacañang, Inauguration of the New Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital (Speech), May 4, 2022
RTVMalacañang, Conferment of Awards on ASEAN NOC Officials and Personnel (transcript), Dec. 3, 2018
Presidential Communications Office, Media Interview of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte following the conferment of posthumous Quezon Service Cross Award on the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago (transcript), Dec. 3, 2018
Inquirer.net, Duterte on ‘admission’ to marijuana use: ‘It was a joke’, Dec. 3, 2018
Philstar.com, Marijuana, EJKs and cursing: 5 times Duterte was ‘just kidding’, Dec. 4, 2018
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
