Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has developed a reputation for crude, inappropriate, and often seemingly incoherent ramblings at public events, forcing government spokesmen to come up with explanations. 2020 was no different for the president.
“I’ll eat that ash, and I’ll even pee on Taal, that damned [volcano].”
The president said on January 13 that while “years of smoking” had contributed to him having bad lungs, he would not allow his health condition to deter him from visiting areas of the Philippines affected by the eruption of the Taal Volcano on the island Luzon on January 12.
“I was warned by my doctor to be careful [about the ashfall],” Duterte told reporters in Filipino.
“I’ll eat that ash, and I’ll even pee on Taal, that damned [volcano],” the president said defiantly.
Duterte traveled to the province of Batangas two days later to distribute food to local residents affected by Taal’s eruption.
“I love beautiful women.”
While in Batangas to visit victims of the Taal Volcano eruption on January 15, Duterte met with local officials to discuss the government’s response to the natural disaster.
He claimed during the meeting that the sight of Batangas’s “beautiful women” had melted away his many woes as the Philippine head of state.
“I have so many problems. When I was in the helicopter, I was thinking about a lot of things, but when I arrived here, it disappeared,” Duterte said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“Really, I love beautiful women,” the president added.
“I want to slap the idiot [coronavirus].”
Duterte lauded Philippine government health officials for their “prompt and efficient response” to the then-emerging threat of the Chinese coronavirus during a meeting with local leaders in Pasay City on February 11.
The president maintained a sense of humor while discussing the threat posed by the coronavirus, “joke-coughing several times over the duration of his nearly one-hour speech,” according to Coconuts Manila.
Duterte said that Filipinos must “rely on how strong the antibodies of the Philippines are. Filipinos don’t get sick easily.”
“[W]e can defeat the virus,” he said, adding that “the national government remains to be on top of the threat” and is “prepared to handle this public health emergency in case the worst scenario happens.”
“If we can’t handle this fucking coronavirus, I’ve been looking for it, because I want to slap the idiot [coronavirus],” the president said.
“Shoot them dead.”
Duterte placed the entire island of Luzon, the island where Manila is located, on “total lockdown” on March 16 in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. The mandate included strict stay-at-home orders with movement allowed only to access basic needs. The Philippine president later issued a verbal shoot-to-kill order for law enforcement should they encounter violators of the community quarantine.
“If there is trouble and there’s an occasion that they fight back and your lives are in danger, shoot them dead,” the president said in a nationally televised address on April 1.
“I can die, even if the plane crashes, I am very happy.”
The Philippine government ordered the country’s largest television network, ABS-CBN, to cease operations on May 5 after the Philippine Congress rejected the network’s bid for a new franchise.
Duterte accuses ABS-CBN of refusing to air his campaign advertisements during the Philippines’ 2016 presidential election, which he won. The president has repeatedly threatened to shut down the broadcaster since then. Duterte has repeatedly claimed ABS-CBN has demonstrated bias against his administration throughout his presidency, airing coverage that portrays his government and policies in a negative light, including his controversial “war on drugs.”
ABS-CBN Corp. is the Philippines’ largest entertainment and media conglomerate; it is owned by one of the country’s richest families, the Lopezes, who Duterte regularly refers to as “oligarchs.”
Duterte welcomed Congress’s refusal to renew ABS-CBN’s license on July 13.
“I can die, even if the plane crashes, I am very happy. You know why? Without declaring martial law, I dismantled the oligarchy that controlled the economy of the Filipino people,” Duterte said in a speech to Philippine troops in Jolo, Sulu.
ABS-CBN continues to operate on the radio and internet and some of its programs returned to freely aired television in the Philippines in October.
“My day begins at two o’clock in the afternoon.”
Duterte on November 17 responded to criticism from Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo about his alleged absence in public while Typhoon Ulysses ravaged the Philippines earlier that month.
“You know, what you said that I was missing during the typhoon, I was here. I was attending a summit, the ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] Summit. I was attending virtually. I was here. While the typhoon was raging outside, I was attending the summit,” the president said in a weekly public address.
“I told the people that I am a night person. My day begins at 2, 2 o’clock until the evening, with no limits. From night until 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock in the morning,” Duterte explained.
He later reiterated this point in a televised speech on November 30:
“So I will sleep around 4 or 5 am … I told you frankly, my day starts at 12 – at 2 o’clock in the afternoon but I will work until night.”
“I want to swim.”
Duterte joked on November 11 that he wanted “to swim” and visit victims of the historic flooding caused by Typhoon Ulysses, but his security detail would not permit him to leave the safety of the presidential residence.
“My problem is, those who are guarding me [are forbidding me from going out]. The PSG (Presidential Security Group), the doctors, they said I couldn’t leave. I said, ‘I want to show myself to the people’,” Duterte explained in a televised address.
“I really want to go out; I want to swim. I haven’t swum for a long time. But these soldiers wouldn’t allow me,” the president added.
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