DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has said that people should look beyond his swearing and instead listen to the Filipino narrative behind it.
“I want you to look beyond my cussing and listen to the reason behind it, because there’s a story behind it and it’s a tragedy of the Filipino people,” Duterte told members of the Manila and Makati Rotary Club in a forum at the Manila Polo Club where he was the guest speaker.
He said his environment added to his habit of cussing to emphasize a point.
Duterte, who spoke extemporaneously in a mixture of English, Visayan and Tagalog, told his audience made up mostly of businessmen, that his platform of government could be counted with the fingers of one hand.
He emphasized in particular law and order, especially the eradication of illegal drugs which he said was the source of all heinous crimes.
No to narco-state
“I will wipe out all illegal drugs in 3 to 6 months. I will not allow our country to become Asia’s Mexico, we will not become a narco-state,” said Duterte who has declared himself as a candidate for President under the PDP-Laban party but is facing disqualification cases at the Commission on Elections.
He said that if he becomes President he will honor Lapu-Lapu as the hero who killed the Philippines’ first invader.
“We have a Rizal Day and Bonifacio Day, but we do not have a day dedicated to Lapu-Lapu who killed Magellan who colonized and used our resources for 400 years. If I become President, I will put Lapu-Lapu in the roll of history and change the name of the fish to Magellan who belongs in the seas,” Duterte said.
Duterte, who described Malacañang as a “dark and foreboding place,” said that when he wins he will not spend for a Palace banquet but will ask all his guests, including foreign dignitaries, “to eat first before you come.”
Tong Payumo, the Rotary program director, said: “We were happy to know that he has more to offer than what we read and hear on the news.”
Businessman Boy Guevara, who introduced Duterte, described him as the man “who walks his talk.”