MANILA, Philippines — Renato Reyes Jr., secretary-general of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), called out President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday for doing things “such that rules for mere mortals do not seem to apply to him anymore.”
“Only the president can curse,” Reyes said in Filipino, echoing a statement made earlier by presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Duterte’s directive to government officials to be more diplomatic in dealing with the maritime dispute with China.
Duterte issued the directive after Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. directed a strongly-worded message to China on Twitter over its ships’ lingering at the West Philippine Sea: “China, my friend, h…
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