BANGKOK — Marry me so the two of us can run the country.
This was President Rodrigo Duterte’s message to Vice President Leni Robredo, whom he accused of being involved in efforts to oust him.
Without mentioning Robredo’s name, Duterte said the vice president was in a hurry to unseat him even if he has only been in office for less than a year.
“Ito si (Sen.) Alan (Cayetano) sayang lang iyan. Eh si yung babae ang pinili ninyo. Apurado gusto akong paalisin. Hindi pa nga ako dumating isang taon dito paalisin mo na ako. (Alan, it’s a waste not having him. You chose the woman. She is in a hurry to oust me. I have not been here for a year and yet you want to unseat me),” the president told the Filipino community here Wednesday night.
Cayetano was Duterte’s vice presidential candidate during the 2016 polls.
“Sige dalaga man siya. Sige pakasalan mo ako. Dalawa na tayo dito. At least hindi ako mawawalaan ng ano. Bulong ng bulong na lang ako sa iyo. Ba't nagmamadali. Maghintay ka. Ano bang ginawa sa bayan? (She is single. Marry me. The two of us can run the country. At least I won’t run out of it. I will just whisper. You wait. What have you done for the country?),” Duterte said.
On Sunday, Duterte claimed that Robredo was in a hurry to be president but believes that the vice president was not behind the alleged destabilization plots against him.
The president made the statement after Robredo hit the Duterte administration’s war on illegal drugs in a video message for the 60th annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, Austria.
Robredo said more than 7,000 suspected drug offenders have been killed in extrajudicial killings since July. She also condemned the so-called “palit-ulo” (literally exchange of heads) scheme, wherein policemen supposedly arrest and detain relatives of drug suspects.
Officials have called out Robredo for her statements, saying only about 2,000 people were killed in law enforcement operations while others were executed by vigilante groups.
‘So many beautiful women, so short a time’
After asking Robredo in jest to marry him, Duterte made light of criticisms that he is fond of statements that are degrading to women.
“I have been criticized by women’s (groups). What's wrong in appreciating beauty?” the president said.
“Alam mo sa buhay na ito, ang regret ko napakaraming magandang Pilipina. Wala lang talagang panahon na. Gusto ko kayo walang panahon eh. Paano? (In this life, my regret was there are many beautiful Filipinas. But I do not have time. I want you but I do not have much time. How?)” he added.
“So many beautiful women, so short a time.”
Duterte, whose hour and a half long speech was filled with naughty insinuations and profanities, also joked that he used to be gay.
“Sino ang ano mga gay dito? Huwag kayong mahiya kasi bakla ako noon, sige na. Palit palit ang panahon eh (Who are the gays here? Do not be ashamed because I was a gay before. Go ahead. Times change),” he said.