The Liberal Party said that administration seemed to be in the habit of floating issues against opposition personalities whenever it is mired in controversies. "This administration has a pattern when cornered: It engages in diversion and changes the conversation," the Liberal Party said in a statement. Duterte, before departing for New Delhi for the ASEAN-India summit, denied that he was involved in the allegations by Napoles against Drilon, the Senate's minority leader. Drilon, in a statement, thanked the president for considering the minority leader a friend and stressed that he had never tagged Duterte in the issues hounding him. We're accountable to the people, but if we look at it, let's not lose track of the other probes and issues," Aquino said.

Source: Philippine Star January 24, 2018 11:03 UTC