Duterte: Flashing dirty finger an exercise of freedom of expression

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday he was not inclined to immediately answer the Office of the Ombudsman, which has asked him to explain why he flashed a dirty finger on TV last month.

In fact, Duterte said, he would not hesitate do it again if provoked because that was part of his freedom of expression.

“Yes, there will be more dirty fingers if I am disgusted and angry,” Duterte told reporters.

He said the Office of the Ombudsman recently sent him a letter to explain his action. His son, Councilor Paolo Duterte, who also flashed a dirty finger, was also being asked to explain his action.

“I am being asked to explain it. I want to write my own reply. I personally want to pen it. But now, my reply is just a smile,” said the vice mayor, known for his feisty nature and cussing in public.

Duterte maintained that flashing a dirty finger was “an exercise of my protected speech… it is my right which is covered by my right to free expression.”

In explaining why he had to do that, Duterte told reporters he could no longer take the criticism hurled at his daughter, Mayor Sara Duterte, for punching court sheriff Abe Andres during an attempt last month to demolish shanties in the Agdao district.

Many critics called Mayor Duterte “unprofessional.”

“The insults on her would goad a father to anger. It was my daughter who was being called names,” the elder Duterte said.

Duterte continued to defend his daughter by saying that critics, including those calling for her disbarment, were ignorant of the law.

“There was no sense in their insistence that the mayor interfered in a judicial process because the order was illegal from the start,” he said, pointing out that the demolition was carried out despite a law that requires a 30-day stay before such court orders are carried out.

Duterte also reacted to criticism he was a bully.

“Bully? That is something that the people of Davao can best answer. If I am a bully I would not be here. But if I am one, I am only a bully to criminals,” he said.

For her part, Sara Duterte said she “roll(s) with the punches.”

“I have learned that when you are a public person, and having grown up with a very popular public figure, you are a property of the public. So I just take all these criticisms and continue my job as the mayor,” she said over Pastor Apollo Quiboloy’s Give Us This Day television program on Tuesday night.