De Lima slams Duterte's 'belittling' of Robredo: It's not that hard to be a better President

Senator Leila de Lima on Saturday slammed President Rodrigo Duterte's "belittling" anew of the capabilities of Vice President Leni Robredo, saying that the latter could fix what Duterte has "broken" as it is not that hard to be a better President.

De Lima responded to Duterte's statement that he will resign if Bongbong Marcos or Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero would succeed him, and that he prefers a junta over Robredo, saying that it reveals the President's disdain of the Constitution and the rule of law.

"Duterte has this hallucination that his presidency is a tough act to follow. Well, it is not. It is one of the worst, if not the worst presidency ever. After him, Marcos might even be surpassed as the most murderous and corrupt president the country ever had," de Lima said.

De Lima said it is not that difficult to perform better than Duterte, as she believes Robredo could "certainly" end all the killings and bring the killers to justice; fight for the Spratlys territories against China; restore "decency" and "civility" in the country's "damaged" society; and bring back the international community's respect to the Philippines "by not being obnoxious or offensive to the world like Duterte was."

De Lima added Robredo could also end the culture of impunity in government where Duterte's appointees and allies have robbed the people "in broad daylight" while being self-righteous about it.

"After Duterte, it is not really all that hard to be a better President. The real challenge to the next President is fixing all that Duterte has broken, which is almost everything that was good about this country and its people," the senator said.

De Lima is a staunch Duterte critic, who has finally been arraigned in July before a Muntinlupa court over drug-related charges. —Jamil Santos/KG, GMA News