President Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
President Duterte may have to pay a high price for his inability to swear off swearing.
Duterte came under intense fire in December last year after he cursed the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, on national television after the Davao City mayor got stuck in traffic during the Pope’s visit to Manila in January.
READ: Duterte ‘curses’ at Pope Francis, Lacierda fires back
Profanity-laced statements
He later apologized to Church officials and promised to stop cursing.
To show he was serious, he “imposed” a P1,000 fine on himself for every expletive uttered, with the money going to Caritas Davao.
Since assuming office on June 30, the President had hurled profanity-laced statements at American President Obama, US Ambassador Philip Goldberg, the European Union, the United Nations, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and journalists, among others.
P8.36 million
So, how much does he owe the Catholic relief agency Caritas if he decides to pay up?
The President has delivered at least 80 speeches since June 30.
If he spewed out expletives at least five times every time he spoke in public, the curses would amount to about P400,000 in his first 100 days in office. At this rate, the swearing would cost him P8.36 million at the end of his term. And this is a conservative estimate.
Uninterested
The Church, however, appears to be not interested in Mr. Duterte’s promise to monetize the curses.
Rev. Fr. Anton CT. Pascual, Caritas Manila executive director, said Caritas prefers to have nothing to do with it.
He said the issue is for the President to be a good role model.
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