On way back from Japan, Duterte vows to stop swearing

DAVAO CITY – While on his way home Thursday night from his three-day state visit to Japan, President Rodrigo Duterte promised to God he would stop swearing.

“While on up there on my way here, I heard a voice telling me to stop swearing or the plane will crash in midair, and so I promised to stop,” Duterte said, shortly before delivering an arrival speech at the Davao International Airport.

“A promise to God is a promise to the people,” the President, known for his penchant for cussing, said.

But when asked later whether he would no longer curse when talking about the United States, the European Union, and even Sen. Leila de Lima, Duterte said that would depend on the right timing.

“May timing iyan,” he said. “Yung mga kababata ko, alam nila iyan.”