MANILA, Philippines — Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Sunday downplayed the public word war between Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and his daughter Isabelle.
In a statement, Roque dismissed the father-daughter feud as “normal.”
“Alam naman po natin na nangyayari 'yan sa lahat ng pamilya (We all know that it happens in every family),” Roque said.
On Saturday, the word war between Paolo and Isabelle became viral.
It stemmed from Isabelle’s tweet apparently hinting that her father hurts her every Christmas.
In Visayan language, Isabelle also said being a Duterte and having power does not give one the privilege to hurt anyone, alluding to her father.
“My dad f**** up my Christmas every year. What a time to be alive,” Isabelle tweeted.
Paolo then took to Facebook to answer his daughter back in Visayan language, he scolded her saying Isabelle does not know how to respect and that she is a “disgrace.”
The vice mayor also asked Isabelle to iron out her life.
“FIX YOUR F****** LIFE FIRST before I will stop “f**** up” your Christmas every year,” Paolo wrote in his lengthy Facebook status.
Roque is hopeful Paolo and Isabelle would reconcile in time for the Christmas season.
“Sana po dahil Pasko ngayon ay magkaroon ng reconciliation sa panig ng mag-ama (I hope that since it is Christmas now there would be a reconciliation between the father and daughter),” the presidential spokesperson said.
Isabelle recently made it to the headlines after her debut photoshoot in Malacañan drew flak from the public.
READ: Was a law violated during Isabelle Duterte's Malacañan shoot?