Malacañang: 'Nagpapatawa lang'

MANILA (2nd UPDATE)- It’s no secret that President Rodrigo Duterte is fond of beautiful women.

And on Wednesday night, the President did not shy away from showing his naughty side, this time for the “beautiful” Tita Baja-Gallentes, mayor of Garcia Hernandez town in Bohol.

Duterte was in the said town to attend the campaign rally of former Cabinet Secretary Leoncio “Jun” Evasco Jr., who is running for governor of the province.

In his speech, the President first noted that the mayor has long been separated from her husband, before playfully asking her to elope with him.

“The mayor asked me today, ‘Why did you come here? Is it because of your love for the people of Bohol?’ That’s one of the reasons, ma’am... First, she said that she’s the mother of your municipality. Then she said that I am the father of the nation,” Duterte said in Visayan.

“Actually I’m not trying to pull your leg. But the truth is ang balita ko if I may allow to say it in public and it will not offend you, you and your husband are separated,” he added.

The President then asked Baja-Gallentes to “run away” with him, noting that his children are already adults.

“Can you run away with me? You have children, don’t you, mayor? How many children do you have? I have 3, 4. I have 4 but they’re all grown up already so I don’t have a problem there anymore,” he said.

“You are truly beautiful. If it were me, why would I ever break up with you? I will really grab and hold on to your panty if you try to leave, even until the garter snaps. You’re just too beautiful,” he told Baja-Gallentes.

Duterte has a common-law partner Honeylet Avanceña with whom he has a teenage daughter Veronica, also known as “Kitty.”

He was previously married to Elizabeth Zimmerman with whom he has 3 children— reelectionist Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, former Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, who is running for a seat in Congress, and Sebastian “Baste” Duterte who is running for the post his brother had vacated in December 2017 over personal issues.

Duterte said that he went to Bohol to “play the game of love” as he joked about asking his former aide, senatorial candidate Christopher “Bong" Go to take care of his wife while he was gone.

He also claimed that he was “still searching” for a partner.

“But even until now, I am still searching, ma’am. What’s the problem if your partner looks for someone else?” he said.

This was not the first time that Duterte made controversial remarks on women.

As a presidential candidate, he was heavily criticized for saying he should have had first dibs on an Australian woman raped in Davao City in 1989.

In December last year, Duterte even recalled confessing to a Catholic priest about touching his maid while she was asleep.

He also drew the ire of critics for threatening to shoot female rebels in the genitals, and for saying that Davao City has the highest number of rape cases in the country because it has many beautiful women.

• Duterte defends ‘freedom’ to joke about women

Malacañang on Friday clarified that the President was just trying to make the audience laugh when he made the remark.

"Alam niyo, 'pag si Presidente nagsasalita, nagpapatawa lang 'yun kasi people are always expecting na magpapatawa siya. Eh 'yung girl (Baja-Gallentes) nga tawa ng tawa eh kasi kilala niya si Presidente eh. Pakwela lang 'yun," Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo told reporters.

(When the President speaks, he is just trying to make people laugh because that's what the public expects him to do. Even Mayor Baja-Gallentes was laughing because she knows the President. He's just being funny.)

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, in a tweet, slammed Duterte's remarks.

"The sexism and misogyny of the highest elected official are beyond the pale. Like a cockroach, he arrogantly thinks he can survive anything, even the 'nuclear war' of women’s outrage," she said.

"Fellow women should further strengthen our ranks and crush and exterminate such political roach conduct."

BUGGED BY A ROACH

It was also while delivering the same speech that the President was bugged by a cockroach.

Duterte was in the middle of endorsing the senatorial bid of Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, daughter of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, when the insect interrupted his speech.

“Same with Imee Marcos, I think you know better than I do,” the President said before brushing off the cockroach which he, in jest, described as a “liberal,” alluding to the name of the opposition party.

• Duterte bugged by cockroach during speech