President Rodrigo Duterte slammed Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and the Lopez family during his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
The Senator received a special mention from President Duterte accusing the former of defending the Lopezes.
“In an interview, [Drilon] arrogantly mentioned that oligarchs need not be rich then he linked the Anti-dynasty system with oligarchy and the topic was my daughter and son,” the President said.
“This happened after the committee of franchises voted 70-11 to deny the grant of franchise to ABS-CBN…Obviously [Drilon] was defending the Lopezes that they were not oligarchs.” he added.
The President pointed out how media was being used by the ‘oligarchs’ to control the politics in the country, claiming that he’s one of the targets of the Lopezes in the 2016 elections.
“Media is a powerful tool for the hands of oligarchs like the Lopezes, who use their media outlets to battle political figures. I was a casualty of the Lopezes during the 2016 elections,” Duterte said.
Duterte criticized ABS-CBN several times and even vowed before not to let the broadcasting network giant renew their franchise.
He accused ABS-CBN Chairman Emeritus Gabby Lopez of stealing his money.
“Gabby Lopez, I paid ABS-CBN P2.8 million…You accepted my money, you never bothered to show my propaganda (political advertisements). After the elections, you didn’t return the money,” Duterte said in a past speech.
However, ABS-CBN officials denied that they intended not to air Duterte’s advertisement and apologized to the President.
Last week, Drilon challenged President Duterte to dismantle the real reason of oligarchy in the Philippines, the ‘anti-dynasty law.’
“You cannot equate rich and oligarch, meaning it does not mean that if you are rich, you are on oligarch. An oligarch is the one that influences the decision of the government or the one using their political power, their wealth in order that the policy that they want to protect their interest will be pursued,” Drilon said.
The senate minority leader was reacting to President Duterte’s announcement that he dismantled an oligarchy without declaring martial law after the Congress decided to reject ABS-CBN’s franchise application.
President Duterte’s three children were currently elected in different positions in Davao City.
In 2018, President Duterte said that they were “forced” to rule Davao City.
“Ayaw ko ng dynasty, but we are forced,” he said.