Accept me for what I am, Duterte says

President Rodrigo Duterte urged the people to accept him as he was because it was already too late for him to change.

“I really speak like that,” the President said in a speech during a gathering of school principals in Davao City, referring to his sometimes vulgar language.

The President said he could not “change at this very late age.” “You’ll just have to take me for what I am,” he added.

“If you cannot understand me or you cannot give an allowance for my habit, please forgive me,” he said.

The President said he became prone cursing during his youth and had been severely punished by his mother, Soledad, because of it. —Allan Nawal