MANILA - Last week, a Facebook post from actress Agot Isidro calling President Rodrigo Duterte a "psychopath" went viral. In her rant, Isidro criticized Duterte's hard-nosed stance that he would rather die of hunger than accept aid from superpowers such as the United States that wish to meddle in his war against illegal drugs.

She was reacting to the President's claim that the Philippines will survive even without aid from traditional allies like the US, which is among the country's major sources of official development assistance.

After her post drew mixed reactions from netizens and other members of the showbiz industry, Push sought the opinion of actor Robin Padilla, a staunch supporter of Duterte on the matter: "Lahat naman tayo ay may opinyon dahil tayo ay nasa malayang bansa."

Padilla added: "Sabi nga ni Mayor [Duterte] mismo, si Mayor mismo nagsalita na that is our right and he will protect our right. Siya ang nagsabi noon na karapatan natin. Ngayon ang ano lang diyan ay ang dami-daming problema ng bansa. Huwag na tayo mag-away-away. 'Yung opinyon niya, opinyon niya iyon."

On Tuesday, Duterte reacted to Isidro's post. "May nagalit [na] isang artista sa akin, psychopath daw ako," he said during the oath-taking of new officials in Malacanang. "I leave her to her Constitutional right to free expression. She should enjoy that."