No right to call more than 16M Duterte voters stupid, gullible

Sylvia L. Mayuga’s “President Pilandok” (Opinion, 6/7/16) equates President-elect Rodrigo R. Duterte to the shrewd “Pilandok,” and the 16,601,997 Filipinos who voted for him (39 percent of total votes cast) to “king crocodile” and “sultan” who, for their utter gullibility and stupidity, were easily duped by the cunning “Pilandok.”

No, I won’t take that. I am a lawyer who voted and campaigned hard for Duterte because I believe in his platform against drugs, criminality and corruption. No other rival candidates gave much importance to these; as a matter of fact, one of them stands charged with corruption.

Mayuga obviously dislikes Duterte. It’s her right and I respect that, founded or not. She, however, does not have the right to insult  those who voted for and supported Duterte by branding them as gullible and stupid.

Political analysts say the majority of Duterte votes came from classes A, B and C voters. Classes D and E went either for Grace Poe or Jejomar Binay. Classes A, B, and C voters are the educated and more discerning ones. Now, Mayuga calls them stupid. Isn’t that stupid?

—REX G. RICO, Rico & Associates Lawyers, [email protected]