After being attacked by President Rodrigo Duterte in his recent statements, Senator Richard Gordon hit back, saying "no country deserves his leadership."

"No country deserves that kind of leadership, No country deserves your leadership," Gordon said, referring to Duterte in his opening statement during the continuation of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee on Friday.

Gordon also recalled how Duterte cursed Pope Francis during his visit in the country in 2015.

"It is hard to patronize you Mr. President because you do not act as a president, today I tell you, you are not the president the Filipino people can respect," he said.

"Nobody talks to you in the international conference because of your reputation of cursing people, being aggressive and you always say kill, kill, kill," he added.

Gordon said Duterte is acting as the lawyer of former Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao and Michael Yang, an ex-presidential adviser.

"The truth doesn't mind being questioned. It's the liars who mind being questioned. They don't want to be faced with challenging questions. They can't answer because it's Attorney Duterte who's answering for them. Attorney (Duterte) is now acting as their lawyer, he's no longer the president of the country," he said.

Gordon also denied Duterte's allegation that he is using the Senate probe for his political plan for the 2022 election.

"I don’t have any ambitions for 2022. I may not run, to be honest. I give up. We already served the people, that is why you cannot say that we are politicking here," he said.

"I have not announced anything yet. It is you who said, ‘I want to be vice president.’ Who is running for vice president now? Isn’t it you who said that, Mr. President?," he added. Robina Asido/DMS