A spokesperson for Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has appealed to the public to look beyond the character of the tough-talking presidential hopeful and understand his way with women.
In her first public appearance as spokesperson for the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan on Friday, Paula Alvarez said Duterte, regardless of his “character blemishes,” had been successful in stamping out crime in Davao City.
“What we want is for people to look beyond these swearing and profanity that they are throwing at him. What we should look into is his track record,” Alvarez said.
She also asked the public not to take literally Duterte’s statements of killing criminals, saying he publicly passes himself off as a murderer only as a hyperbole.
“Some of his statements are just hyperbole. Sometimes he exaggerates to drive home a point,” she said.
Alvarez also compared the slow disaster relief response led by administration candidate and former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas to that by Duterte, whose relief goods were plastered not with his face but only with a note “From Davao City.”
“What we want is efficient government. Let’s look into that—quick action and solution (mabilis na aksyon at solusyon),” she said, referring to the slogan of Duterte and his running mate, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.
Alvarez said Duterte should not be judged for being good at charming women, who she said couldn’t help throwing themselves at the “bad boy” mayor.
“The women are the ones who throw themselves at him, maybe because he’s now seen as a rock star,” Alvarez said after the “Pandesal Forum” at Kamuning Bakery Cafe.
Alvarez even compared Duterte’s charms to that of action star Robin Padilla, who is known for his bad-boy attitude.
Alvarez maintained that Duterte was “prowomen,” saying Davao City was the first to have a women’s code that protected them from discrimination.
“He’s very respectable toward women,” she said.
Alvarez also said the allegations against Duterte for perpetrating the hit man’s group Davao Death Squad were unfounded, since no bodies had been found.