Aquino allies poised to file murder charges against surging Rody
By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.
Presidential contender Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s camp allayed fears yesterday that that allies of President Benigno Aquino III are cooking up a grad plot aimed at pinning the mayor over alleged extrajudicial killings in Davao City.
“We have been alerted that the Aquino government is preparing to file charges against Mayor Rodrigo Duterte supposedly for his ‘role and involvement’ in extra judicial killings of known criminals and drug pushers in Davao City,” the Mayor’s spokesperson Peter Laviña said in a statement.
Laviña said the charges reportedly stemmed from affidavits executed by a ranking police officer and supposed self-confessed gunmen.
“We view this development with serious cause for concern,” he said.
Laviña sees this ploy as a desperate move by administrations bets who are threatened by the surge in the popularity and voter preference for Duterte whose numbers continue to rise in all surveys.
Laviña said Duterte, running on shoestring budget and with little support from big business interests and political parties, is attracting nationwide support from ordinary folks — workers, peasants, youth and students, women, Moro and indigenous peoples, middle class employees and businessmen, from south to north of the nation as the campaign period enters midway point.
“There is no doubt in our mind that momentum is on our side,” he said.
He said the ploy to resurrect the worn out allegations against the Duterte is a vain and desperate attempt to stop the momentum.
“Certainly, they had all the opportunity, time, resources and wherewithal to file those charges when Mayor Duterte was a virtual non-entity in national politics. Moreso when he was not yet a declared presidential candidate,” he said.
Laviña said now that Duterte is on the heels of being elected the first president from the south – a Mindanaoan with strong Visayan roots – in more than 50 years, his opponents are training their guns on him to arrest his irreversible march to victory.
“We deplore these dirty tricks. We abhor these underhanded tactics,” he said.
He said the group will resist the vain plot to pin Duterte down because of his strong stand against crime and corruption.
“We warn them of the repercussions of such diabolical plan,” he said.
Laviña said the people will not be swayed by black propaganda and “amateurish schemes. He is confident Duterte will prevail.
