In an exclusive interview on BBC’s HARDtalk show, the British host and journalist Stephen Sakur observed Senator Antonio Trillanes views against President Rodrigo Duterte.
The interview started as the anchor mentioned the current state of Marawi.
Sakur asked if Trillanes supported President Duterte on how he handled the Marawi siege that led to Martial Law declaration over Mindanao. He agreed that what is happening in Marawi is a national crisis but he countered that Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) can subdue the siege caused by the Jihadists without Martial Law.
When Sakur mentioned the drug crisis in the Philippines, Trillanes answered that drug crisis in the Philippines is not as bad as it seems and it was only Duterte who created his own crisis.
The anchor also asked if Trillanes is a “democrat” and the latter said “yes”, he was from the Nationalist Party, but Sakur interrupted him and countered that he was not talking about the party affiliations but his commitment with democracy.
Simultaneously, Sakur quoted one of Duterte’s propaganda before he was elected. Trillanes explained that the campaign was just being dramatic. Duterte being elected by many because of his iron fist ways does not give him the right to kill people.
Trillanes also does not believe that drug war campaign of the current administration is effective because only those who are poor were being killed.
Sakur also told the senator that his answers seemed to be “out of tune with ordinary Filipino opinion”, and Trillanes insisted that Duterte’s popularity would continue to go down.
Trillanes further highlighted that bulk of Filipinos are not really aware of what is happening on the ground and are busy with their day to day living. He also pointed out that Duterte’s propaganda machine is very very effective.
He sounded sure that popularity rating of Duterte will continuously go down as people discover what’s really happening.