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“If it is too ridiculous, it must be a joke,” Duterte said in December 2018 during the awarding ceremonies for the 2017 Presidential Award for Child-Friendly Municipalities and Cities. This was after the president said he used marijuana to keep himself awake

Gag orders: When Duterte's 'jokes' are no laughing matter

Kristine Joy Patag (philstar.com)
February 27, 2019

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte's "jokes", expressions and his tendency for hyperbole may just be part of his style, but they are not just words, a political analyst said.

"The words of the president may be interpreted by the people, particularly the Duterte supporters, as a government policy," Dennis Coronacion, chairperson of the Department of Political Science at the University of Santo Tomas told Philstar.com.

Duterte's quips, particularly against the Catholic Church and its priests, have been in the headlines after Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle told the president that a bishop and some priests have received death threats from people who claimed to be working for the president's family.

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It has become almost a routine—or, to his critics, a running joke—that the president's controversial statements will be explained away the next day as the president’s “playful character,” a use of “hyperbole,” or a “joke” to lighten the mood.

Harsh words for bishops

The chief executive has not made his disdain for the Catholic Church a secret. In his nearly three years in office, his verbal attacks against the church and its leaders have only intensified.

Last year, Duterte suggested bystanders to rob and kill “useless” Catholic bishops. He said in a speech of mix English and Filipino: “These bishops, kill them. They are useless fools. All they do is criticize.” He made similar comments at the birthday celebration of a provincial governor in January.

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David has been at the receiving end of Duterte’s tirades for years. The president previously accused him of stealing donations and of involvement in the drug trade.

The bishop has denied all the president’s allegations and stressed that he doesn't even take multivitamins.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Tuesday said the blame for the threats against David and other priests should not be on the president or his words but on Duterte's critics.

"If it’s hyperbole, then it’s not an encouragement. It is only the opposition, the critics who make it so. That is precisely why they should be blamed for that, not him," he attempted to argue. Panelo said that people "have [gotten] used to this president's style of delivering his responses, his remarks."

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The statement was issued as the president reaped criticism for saying he had touched a sleeping housemaid when he was younger. His spokesman Panelo said the president's story was fictional and was meant to highlight sexual abuse by Catholic priests.

"If it was obscene, the reaction of the audience would have been bad, they would have been angry at him," Panelo said then, repeating a common defense of the president's remarks.

The PCW, in its statement, said "sexual molestation or abuse, including rape, are public crimes and a violation of human dignity," adding "it is an abhorrent attack on a person's self-worth and should never be used as subject matter to prove a point."

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The editorial noted before Duterte arrived in Israel that the president is known for his “dubious comments” and whose administration has been accused of human rights violations had just made another “rape happens wherever there are ‘beautiful women’” remark.

“The president of the Philippines isn’t a wanted guest here, and his visit is a shameful diplomatic stain,” the editorial dated Sept. 2, 2018, read.

Extrajudicial killings

Duterte has also repeatedly said in his speeches that drug addicts should be killed. At one point, he said that the bodies of drug addicts would be used as “pataba” or fish food in Manila Bay.

A Washington Post article about finding a body dumped in Tondo referenced those speeches:

Summary executions are often characterized by bound limbs, taped faces, cardboard signs reading “I am a drug addict” and — in cases like Santos’s — bodies dumped in the city’s waterways. They are often found stashed in metal drums and loaded down with concrete, to try to keep them from floating.

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Lawyer Antonio “Tony” La Viña, former dean of the Ateneo School of Government, said in a radio interview at the time that Duterte’s statement of EJKs as his only sin could be taken as “admission against interest.”

"Kasi nanggaling sa mouth ng presidente. Hindi mo na kailangan i-prove pa. Ang tawag diyan, admission against interest. 'Yan ang pinaka-highest and strongest evidence (It came from the mouth of the president. You don’t need to prove that. That’s called admission against interest. That’s the highest and strongest evidence) because nobody confesses unless they mean it," the law expert added.

Several communications on alleged commission of crimes against humanity—naming the president and his top administration officials—have been sent to the International Criminal Court, whose prosecutor has yet to decide on whether the court had jurisdiction over the allegations.

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This led to thousands being detained following ordinances created after Duterte’s directive.

Roque said of the policy that lower-income people could just stay at home or find other places to spend their time.

"In Parañaque for instance, they usually hang out in barber shops or in street eateries (karinderya). In Parañaque, those serving puto bungbong, people sit there while they sip their tea," he said.

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