Is Duterte serious or just joking? Palace says ‘use your common sense’

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo. Screengrab from RTVM video

Use your common sense.

That was the advice of Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Tuesday to the public to determine whether President Rodrigo Duterte is joking or not.

Panelo issued the statement after Duterte on Monday said he was using marijuana to keep himself awake but later retracted it and said he was only joking.

READ: Duterte admits using marijuana to keep him awake

So when is the President serious and when is he joking?

“One, we use our common sense; number two, makikita mong nagbibiro siya pag tumatawa iyong taong nasa harap na niya. Kasi ang joke ay ginagawa iyan para tumawa tayo di ba, ngayon kapag hindi ka tumawa, meron kang sinabi na sa tingin mo joke, eh ibig sabihin offended ang mga nakikinig sa iyo,” Panelo said in an interview over GMA 7’s Unang Hirit.

In a speech in Malacañang, Duterte cited his hectic schedule during the 33rd Association of Southeast Asian Summit in Singapore and admitted he was using marijuana to stay awake.

But in an interview with reporters, he said he was not serious when he said the statement.

READ: Another Duterte joke: I’m taking marijuana to stay awake

Panelo explained that marijuana was not a “stimulant.”

“Like iyong marijuana, alam natin hindi naman stimulant iyon sa pag-gising. On the fact alone na hindi stimulant iyon, di walang logic sa sinasabi niya na iniinum niya iyon para siya magising, kaya nagtawanan ang mga tao,” he said.

This was not the first time Duterte issued a statement and later on clarified that it was a joke.

For instance, the President earlier said saints were “fools” and “drunkards” but his spokesman later said the chief executive was only kidding. /jpv

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