Mayor vents ire on wrong journalist

DAVAO CITY—President-elect Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday criticized the wrong journalist as he complained about reporters’ questions pertaining to his health.

Speaking to his supporters celebrating his electoral victory at Crocodile Park here, Duterte hit journalists for asking “impertinent” questions.

Duterte, 71, mentioned an incident involving a Davao reporter who asked him about his health.

That reporter was  an Inquirer correspondent in Davao City, but Duterte referred to him using the surname of another Inquirer correspondent, Karlos Manlupig.

After criticizing Catholic priests and belittling talk of a media boycott, Duterte said, “And there’s another reporter here, he makes you out to be the bad guy. He asked me, ‘How is your health?’ I said I was fine, I was good. And he replied — son of a bitch! — ‘Where is your medical report?’ I was offended. I told him, ‘Never mind.’”

Duterte said the reporter was making him look like a villain. “Is it good to treat a person that way?” he asked.

Then he said to the delight of the crowd, “If I tell you, ‘What is the condition of your wife’s vagina?’ Well?”

He said the reporter was disrespectful and it was as if he was being treated like a criminal.

“You from Manila, those reporters here, like Manlupig, that was a very impertinent question. Offensive,” he said.

It did not end there. After a few minutes, Duterte returned to the topic.

“How is the vagina of your wife? Is it smelly? Or not smelly? Give me the report,” he said.

“You from Manila, you think I’ll be scared of a boycott. Sons of bitches!” he said.

Manlupig, who is unmarried, posted on Facebook that it wasn’t he who asked Duterte about his health during a press conference in the Mandaya Hotel.

The other reporter acknowledged that it was he who asked the health question. But he did not comment on Duterte’s reaction.

Duterte has been ranting at journalists, especially those from Manila, after the uproar over his statement that corrupt journalists were legitimate targets of assassination.

The international journalists’ group Reporters Without Borders called on Filipino journalists to boycott Duterte’s press briefings. So far no Philippine media organization has boycotted the foul-mouthed mayor of Davao City.

Duterte did not take the boycott suggestion lightly and instead challenged journalists to proceed with it.

His executive assistant, Christopher Go, eventually announced that Duterte would no longer hold press briefings “for now.”

Go said all statements and interviews with Duterte would be coursed through government-owned PTV4.