Senator Leila De Lima was surprised after President Rodrigo Duterte approached her and shook her hand before he went up the podium for his first State of the Nation Address (SONA).
“I was surprised noong nasa harap ko mismo,” De Lima told reporters. “Nag-detour siya. He approached me, he extended his hand.”
The exchange drew laughter from the people present in Batasan, especially when the president made a face after shaking hands with her.
De Lima took the president’s gesture as a sign of civility or “walang personalan” despite the two being at odds for years before Duterte was elected.
“Kasi ang totoo wala naman kaming personal,” she said to Inquirer. “Lalo ako, never akong namemersonal sa lahat ng ginagawa ko so that means when he made that gesture, I think that’s also a manifestation na wala talagang pesonalan.”
De Lima, a former head of Commission on Human Rights, investigated vigilante killings in Davao but found no links tied to then-Mayor Duterte.
Meanwhile, Duterte accused the then-secretary of Department of Justice (DOJ) De Lima of coddling drug lords inside Bilibid.
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