Portraits irk Duterte: You won’t flatter me

Portrait artist Freddie Luna Cruz shows his painting of then-incoming President Rodrigo Duterte in this pre-proclamation photo taken in May 2016.

President Rodrigo Duterte chided government officials and offices that continue to display his portrait despite his order to take them down.

“Ang titigas ng mga ulo. You will not flatter me with my picture. Titindig ang balahibo ko niyan,” Duterte said Monday.

He reminded public officials and offices of his order to take down his portraits and instead display photos of heroes.

The order was contained in Memorandum Circular No. 25, which the President issued on September 15.

“Kindly remind them about my order, itong mga government offices, not to display my picture or the picture of [Special Assistant to the President Christopher] “Bong” [Go]. Hindi kami ‘yung heroes,” he told reporters during a Christmas dinner in Malacanang.

“It’s not yet our time to be there. We are not supposed to be in any corner [of government offices or schools],” he added.

In his memorandum, Duterte said “all government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or – controlled corporations, state universities and colleges and public schools of all levels, are hereby directed to display or exhibit the photographs, paintings or other forms of visual representations of Philippine Heroes in lieu of the photographs, paintings or other forms of visual representations of elected or appointed government officials.”

READ: Heroes photos in, Duterte portraits out

“I’m requiring everybody who really want to show a sense of loyalty to the country [to] display the pictures or paintings of our heroes,” he said. /cbb

READ: Pay a visit to city hall; Are photos of heroes there?