Fisherman admits feeling bad after being duped by Duterte's campaign promise
A fisherman in Pangasinan said he felt bad after hearing that President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign promise to stand up for them against China turned out to be merely a joke.
Carlo Montehermozo said in a DZMM interview early this morning that he voted for Duterte in the presidential elections believing his promise that he will stand up for them against China.
In a televised debate in 2016, Montehermozo asked Duterte and other presidential candidates then about what they will do for fishermen like him whose livelihoods are being threatened by Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea.
Duterte’s now-infamous answer at that time was that he will ride a jet ski to the disputed islands and plant a Philippine flag to assert the country’s ownership.
But last Monday, May 10, Duterte said during his televised address that his answer that time was only “a campaign joke” and said those who believed him were “stupid.”
“Kaming mangingisda dito masama ang loob namin. Bakit ganun? Joke joke lang yung sinabi niya sa akin noon?” Montehermozo said during the radio interview.
Montehermozo admitted that he voted for Duterte because he thought he would be able to help them.
“Ang alam namin kaming mga mangingisda dito matutulungan kami. Yun pala joke lang pala yung sinasabi niyang yun,” he said.
“Kaming mangingisda dito masama ang loob namin, bakit ganun lang?”
Asked if he would vote for another Duterte in the next elections, he said, “Iba na lang siguro. Kapag Duterte kung ano puno, bunga din ng mangga.”
Montehermozo said their lives did not change since Duterte assumed the presidency. He said that there are still Chinese vessels in their usual fishing grounds that affect their livelihood.
Montehermozo then said Filipinos should vote wisely in the 2022 elections.
“Pag-isipan nating mabuti kung sino talaga yung makakatulong sa atin,” he said.
