President Rodrigo Duterte said he is willing to face Senator Richard Gordon in a public debate if he is ever challenged.

In a prerecorded Talk to the People aired on Monday, Duterte again called Gordon a “thief” for his supposed involvement in corruption in the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), which the senator heads.

“If you want to engage me in a debate in public, okay, I will,” he said, stating that he even knew Gordon’s case number or the identification number assigned by the clerk of court to a criminal case.

Duterte also mocked Gordon for supposedly spitting excessively while talking.

“Kaya kung magpunta kayo sa mga rally nandiyan si Gordon, magdala kayo ng payong (That’s why if you attend rallies where Gordon is present, bring an umbrella),” he said.

Duterte has regularly harassed Gordon for investigating alleged irregularities in the government’s procurement of Covid-19 supplies from Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. at the peak of the pandemic in 2020, citing the probes as a “waste of time”.

Duterte has long insisted that the government’s purchase of medical supplies is in accordance with Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act (Bayanihan 1), stating that Congress is well-aware of the provision in Bayanihan 1 that authorizes the government to buy emergency supplies without the need to comply with procurement laws.

Photo Credit: CNN Philippines