President Rodrigo R. Duterte. KING RODRIGUEZ/PPD
Seriously?
He was only joking, President Duterte told a group of lawyers on Friday. God did not tell him to stop cursing or he’d bring down the plane, the President added of the incident that he said happened on his way home from a three-day official trip in Japan.
It was a joke, and people were crazy enough to believe it. “Alam mo mga buang, naniwala rin, Mr. Duterte said in a speech before members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
“I’m not a bar topnotcher, but I’m not that stupid,” he added.
The former Davao City mayor said that when he was a local official, he liked to say things in jest and then take it back. “Eh maniwala ka pala. Ka ugok mo eh (If you believe it, you’re a fool), he added.
This was not the first time that the President had invoked levity in his controversial statements. Earlier, he said his threat of pulling the Philippines out of the United Nations was made in jest.
He made the threat after criticizing the UN for expressing concern over the rising number of extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in the country.
A day after the President said he was only kidding about hearing God’s voice ordering him to stop cursing, Malacañang issued a reminder that Mr. Duterte had advised media during his campaign to learn how to discern when he was joking and when he was serious.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said members of the media should undergo a briefing from Davao-based journalists “to learn how to differentiate when the President was making fun of the issue at hand and when he was seriously stating a fact.”
“We hope those tips can be of help,” Andanar added.
Davao-based journalists were among those who wrote news reports about the Mr. Duterte’s supposed conversation with God on his cursing.
After telling the story about God admonishing him, Mr. Duterte toned down the profanity in his next speeches, only to revert to the habit soon after.