Duterte spends time with Davao media; recalls time as mayor

President Rodrigo Duterte INQUIRER.net / JOAN BONDOC

DAVAO CITY—Beleaguered by critics in Manila, President Rodrigo Duterte tried to find solace from among the members of the Davao media and his staunch supporters here where he explained his tough ways of talking to criminals during a Christmas party held for his exclusive guests.

Duterte told supporters he could not detach himself from his old ways as a mayor.

“Nung kasama tayo, nakita nyo ako, hanggang ngayon mayor (pa rin) ako magsalita, di gusto ng  taga Maynila yan, binabakbakan ako kasi bastos, (You saw me when we were still together, until now, I still speak like the way I did  as a mayor. People in Manila don’t like that, they criticize me). They want to oust me,” Duterte told members of the invited media in Davao City, where he was mayor for 22 years before he was elected the country’s 16th president.

He said some policies that he implemented in Davao City used to be what people believed was impossible, such as the firecracker ban, but it was done and had reduced by a wide margin incidence of deaths and injuries due to firecrackers.

The President also belted Martin Nievera’s song, “Ikaw,” and “Balud sa Kapalaran,” and couldn’t seem to stop singing for the rest of the night.  /jpv