Sinagot ni vice presidential aspirant at Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte ang kanyang posibleng maging katunggali sa eleksyon na si dating Akbayan party-list Rep. Walden Bello.
Matatandaan na kinontra ni Bello ang isinusulong na mandatory military service ni Duterte.
Eto ang buong sagot ni Mayor Duterte kay Bello:
“Sara Duterte’s pledge to use the OVP to promote mandatory military service reveals her for the dictator-in-waiting she is, and tells us that she will be no different from Duterte Sr.,” ani Bello.
Mahaba naman ang naging sagot ni Duterte sa mga banat sa kanya ni Bello at sinabi nito na tuturuan nito ang mga kabataan na maging mapagmahal sa bayan.
“If only Walden Bello wasn’t so quick to jump the gun, he would know that my vision was not only to push for mandatory military service for the youth.
And an 18-year-old is definitely not a child.
Only the likes of Mr. Bello would think of mandatory military service for its citizens as arming them and telling them to kill — instead of looking at it as something that inspires patriotism in the youth.
If only he wasn’t so quick to react, he would have realized that I also emphasized the need for the youth to be prepared for disasters and become proactive community partners in rescue operations and in aiding victims of calamities.
The youth, I also said, should also play active roles in advancing their own welfare — particularly in the aspect of health, education, gender equality, and reproductive issues. I wanted them to be able to stand on their own, help themselves, help the communities, and help the nation.
If only Mr. Bello did not stop at what he has been so stuck in over the past many years — dictatorship in the Philippines, something that we know is a lie in the present time — he would have a better understanding of what I truly stand for.
The obsession over dictatorship in this country is as ancient as the belief that the youth have no actual important role in building a nation that is progressive and peaceful.
I truly hope that our youth do not grow up to be a Walden Bello — an ungrateful citizen who sleeps peacefully at the comfort of their homes, unable to say a prayer or a silent ‘thank you’ to the men and women who became martyrs while countering violent extremism, insurgency, and terrorism.”
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