Duterte vows to stop cursing — again

MANILA, Philippines — Is it for real this time?

President Duterte has again vowed to refrain from cursing, a promise that he has made and broken many times before.

“Good boy na ako. Wala na kayong marinig na mura (I am now a good boy. You won’t hear any curses anymore),” the President said during the 20th anniversary of the Chinese-Filipino Business Club in Manila last Monday.

“I had a dream two months ago and my mother appeared before me and said, ‘Hoy, g***. Tama na ‘yang pagmumura mo (Hey, stupid. Enough of your cursing),” he added.

Duterte’s mother Soledad was a devout Catholic. In his previous speeches, Duterte said his mother would ask him to kneel before an altar for being naughty.  

It was not the first time the tough-talking President promised not to say vulgar words in public. 

After his trip to Japan in October 2016, Duterte claimed that God had told him to stop cursing or his plane would crash.

He then claimed that he was just joking and even advised foreign and Manila-based media to talk to Davao reporters so they would learn when he is serious and when he is just making a light-hearted comment. 

In a speech delivered on Feb. 8, 2017, Duterte admitted that only two in every five of his statements are true, while the rest are mere wisecracks.

“And so I’m just fond of doing it. Gusto ko lang tumawa (I just want to laugh). Well, at the expense also of myself sometimes,” he added.

Duterte has courted controversy for his frank and outlandish statements and his officials claim he should be taken seriously but not literally. 

Duterte has argued that he never aspired to be a statesman or sought the presidency.