Duterte to public servants: Don’t be a ‘Judas’ in gov’t campaign vs corruption

President Rodrigo Duterte delivers a speech at the oath taking of his recent appointees at Heroes Hall in Malacañang Palace, Manila on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017. (Photo from an RTVM video)

President Rodrigo Duterte urged on Wednesday newly-appointed government officials not to betray him in his fight against corruption.

In his speech during the mass oath-taking of new government appointees in Malacañang, Duterte said he does not want a Judas Iscariot under his helm.

“So we all start with the noblest of intention, joining government, dreaming for a—we start good, but especially in government, hindi kayo… But I hope you—I will not have to ask you to pose a picture which I will draw—I will be drawing shortly before I leave the presidency,” Duterte said.

“I hate to see you being a Jesus Christ, only to discover in the end that you are the Judas that I have been also looking for,” he added.

In a rare anecdote, Duterte likened himself to renowned artist Leonardo Da Vinci, who was in Florence, Italy in search of a model who would represent the characters in the classic masterpiece, the Last Supper.

“Then the guy was about to finish the work, for each and every apostle, meron siyang model gaya ‘yung mga si St. Peter kinuha niyang model, si General (Hermogenes) Esperon ganun, binayaran niya, tapos si saint—sino ba ‘yung mga y*** na ‘yun mga pangalan nila? Oo,” Duterte said.

(Then the guy was about to finish the work, for each and every apostle, he has a model, like St. Peter, he took General Esperon as model, he paid him. Then saint—what’s their name again?)

“But—he was able to complete the painting, so it is said, in five years except to two persons na hindi niya ma-drawing (that he cannot draw). He was looking for a model of Christ, the far right, and itong si Hudas, the far left,” he added.

He said that it took Da Vinci another two years to find an actor to pose as Jesus Christ, this time in Venice, Italy. The painter was then able to paint Jesus Christ.

He said Da Vinci went back to Florence to look for Judas—an “evil-looking” man who look like Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.

The President narrated the painter found an actor who can portray Judas: a scavenger who is a “model for a face of evil” and then completed the Last Supper.

But when Da Vinci was about to pay him, the actor fell down on his knees and started crying.

When the painter asked why, the actor said: “You know, Mr. Da Vinci, I was once upon a time your Jesus Christ and you took—that is me there. ‘Yung—ngayon (now), you drew the… Ako ‘yun, nagkalat ako sa buhay (I messed up with my life). I am one and the same person.’”

Duterte warned the officials to fool around but not engage in corruption. He said he had fired a lot of officials in Malacañang for doing such, including a Budget undersecretary just recently.

The mass oath-taking included 96 presidential appointees and hundreds of other private organizations, including the Malacañang Press Corps.

Some of the officials who took the oath include former presidential spokesperson and now Department of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella; board members of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Sandra Cam and Jesus Manuel “Bong” Suntay; Presidential Communications Operations Office Undersecretary Lorraine Marie Badoy; and Department of Social Welfare and Development Undersecretary Luzviminda Ilagan. /jpv

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