Wikipedia photos of President Duterte (left) and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno (right)
written on August 13, 2021
“A callboy as president?” Rody Duterte sounded so scandalized by bikini photos of a male metropolitan mayor aspiring for the highest office. Duterte didn’t name names. Still he devoted to it a good part of his Ulat sa Bayan telecast last Monday:
“Nakita ko nga sa Facebook kanina. Naka-bikini ang gago. May isang picture pa doon na sinisilip niya ang ari niya. ‘Yan ang gusto ninyo? Parang callboy, naghuhubad, nagpa-picture naka-bikini, tapos ‘yung garter tinatanggal niya… ‘Yan ang training ng presidente? Maghubad, magpa-picture at magsilip… magyabang sa kanilang ari?”
Duterte claimed that the mayor is “so disorganized.” “Ayuda” for the latest pandemic re-lockdown supposedly cannot be entrusted to that city hall. Duterte instead ordered his generals for local governments and social welfare to hand out the cash aid. Those departments have no foot soldiers.
As if on cue, still shots suddenly spread online of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno clad only in briefs. Trolls scrambled to bash the matinee idol-turned-politician. Moreno is of late Duterte’s favorite target for blind-item sniping. Simple remarks of the mayor rile the occupant of Malacañang. As example, “The presidency is not for inheriting” likely pricks Duterte’s emergent scheme for daughter Sara to succeed him in Election 2022. Although Moreno and Sara have yet to declare to run, both are leading in surveys.
Defenders retorted that the photos were two-decades-old promos for a movie when Moreno was a showbiz newbie. That’s past and he has since changed. “What’s important is that [he] never lied, did not steal, kill nor brought shame to the great people of Manila as a public servant,” Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla told ABS-CBN News.
“Eyes on the ball, not on someone else’s balls,” Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite chided Duterte. “May oras pa siya maghalungkat ng lumang litrato, e nagugutom na ang taumbayan dahil sa kanyang lockdown.” Region-wide lockdowns are Malacañang’s default response to COVID-19 resurges, amidst its paltry vaccinations and contact tracing. Livelihoods are disrupted and families subsisting hand-to-mouth go hungry, as police keep them indoors. Duterte’s “ayuda” was to commence only last Wednesday, five days after he imposed weeks of lockdown.
Drifting into locker-room blabber typifies Duterte’s presidential speeches. Spokesmen blame the public for being scandalized and not getting the joke. In a midterm election campaign rally at Puerto Princesa Coliseum, Palawan, on April 8, 2019, he bragged about his penis size and sexual prowess:
“Sa totoo ang lalaki is measured by his character, hindi ‘yong pa-guwapo-guwapo ka diyan, tapos paglabas ng t***, maliit pala… Pag ako binigyan ng Diyos ng ganyan kaliit, putulin ko ‘yan sa harap ng altar. ‘T*** i*** mo, ‘yan lang pala binigay mo, todohin na natin. E kung sa dormitoryo nakatira ‘yan kagaya namin, sa YMCA, hubad lahat maglakad sa corridor. Walang tapis-tapis. Diyan mo makita pagka umaga. Ako hindi nagyayabang… ang tuwalya ko… pinapatong ko tapos lakad ako sa kanila. Bilib sila. ‘P***-i*** Duterte, ang tigas o!’ May buhay pa ba na taga-YMCA sa Pilipinas? Di ba, pabiliban tayo? Kasi noong bata pa, nakaharap sa langit halos e (demonstrates with the microphones). Pataas. Nakahalik na ‘yung ulo sa pusod ko. Pasalamat ako sa tatay ko – at least pinalabas niya ako sa buhay highly equipped. Bata pa kami noon nang magpunta kami doon sa mga babae. Magtakbuhan. ‘Ayaw namin ‘yang payat na ‘yan – ayaw nang huminto.’ Lugi sila.” (See link below)
Illuminating, inspiring words memorialize statesmen: Churchill, de Gaulle, Roosevelt, Mitterand, Kennedy, etc. Duterte is immortalized in global mainstream and social media for misogynistic remarks in public. Angry netizens have been reposting those.
Campaigning for president in 2016 Duterte said he should have been first as then-Davao City mayor to gang-rape an attractive Australian missionary slain by rioting convicts. In November 2016, the new President said he nudged Cabinet members to join him ogle the knees of Vice President Leni Robredo. In February 2018, he told soldiers to shoot female communist insurgents in the vagina. Another time he said they can rape up to three times with his permission. The following April he narrated how, as a teenager, he had molested the family housemaid. In August 2018 he justified the high rape incidence in his Davao home-city, “As long as there are many beautiful women, there will be more rape cases.” In March of this year, his birthday video showed him attempting to grope a servant. Belittling it, his spokesman claimed there was no malice since the woman was a longtime house helper and was used to Duterte’s naughtiness.
Last Wednesday the Cabinet turned over to Moreno’s office the “ayuda” for his distribution. The generals refused to talk to reporters about Duterte’s directive. There was no reason to withhold the emergency cash. Only last June 30 they had commended Moreno for swift action on similar funds during the April lockdown. The certificate cited Moreno’s “efficient, timely completion of the distribution of ayuda to your constituents despite the challenges of the pandemic, in accordance with the DSWD-DILG-DND Joint Memorandum Circular 1-2021.”
(Listen: https://youtu.be/Ykh1OC8ZPLg)
Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying
Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying
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