Duterte vows ‘metamorphosis’

President-elect Rodrigo Duterte. KARLOS MANLUPIG/INQUIRER MINDANAO FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY—He is rude and foul-mouthed, and serving in local public office for more than two decades has never been a reason for him to seek refinement.

But 28 days before he takes office as the new Philippine leader, President-elect Rodrigo Duterte is promising a “metamorphosis.”

He will give up gutter language and complete the change with a clean look, swapping his casual shirts for the barong Tagalog.

“There will be a metamorphosis of the mind. From being a caterpillar, it will blossom into a butterfly,” Duterte told reporters on Thursday night.

Duterte, who appears in public usually wearing a buttoned-down shirt with sleeves rolled up, or a jacket over a collared T-shirt paired with jeans, promised the change when asked about criticism involving his unpresidential appearance and behavior.

“I am not yet President. But you just wait,” he said.

Duterte takes his oath as the Philippines’ 16th President on June 30, most likely in Malacañang in Manila.

He stayed away from his proclamation in the House of Representatives on Monday, but his camp said he would definitely be present at his inauguration.

“I’m really a rude person. I’m enjoying my time as a rude person. I am not yet President,” he said.

“But when I become President, when I take my oath of office, if you want, I can be more in keeping with the dignity of the office,” he said. “I will tone down my cursing. That will be past. It’s gonna be history.”

The tough-talking, longtime mayor of Davao City promised to change just minutes after saying he would stick to his “identity” and “style”—macho, brusque and brash.

“I will never change my style, character and identity. My identity is my universal. That is the identity that God gave me. I will never change it for anybody. Not for threats, not for insults, not for anything,” said Duterte, who erupts into expletives during press conferences.

Respect for office

Several times, he warned Manila reporters unfamiliar with him not to take his “preposterous” statements too seriously.

“I intentionally do that. That’s my style,” he said.

Asked whether he would exchange his casual wardrobe with a more formal one, Duterte said: “Yes. If not, it would be embarrassing. It’s a form of respect for the office.”

He said, however, that he would be “very uncomfortable” wearing a barong in the office every day.

But to be sure, he will wear barong in his public appearances.

“A lot of pictures are being taken, and it’s recorded history. So you have to wear something that is really expected of you,” he said.

That would be a big change for the residents of Davao, too, after seeing their mayor in rugged clothes and hearing him use scabrous language, even on his Sunday television program, for more than two decades. With a report from Nico Alconaba, Inquirer Mindanao