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Duterte hints his best performance in int’l stage is yet to come

President Duterte  gives a thumbs up for his performance in 2016 Asean.
President Duterte gives a thumbs up for his performance in 2016 Asean.

President Duterte at first played coy when asked about his assessment of his debut in the international stage in the 2016 summit of the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the 18-country East Asia Summit in Laos last week, upon his arrival from Jakarta where he proceeded after the Asean meetings saying it would be “self-serving.” But with little prodding he opened up, “I’m sure that if you’re a Filipino, you’d be proud of me.”

He said the only ones who would not be proud of what he did in Laos and Indonesia (where he proceeded for a state visit from Vientiane) are the “low-life sa press, iyong mga kolumnista, nothing is really too good to be true.”

“Pero hindi kayo napahiya (I did not embarrass you), I assure you, and everybody was clapping except for dalawa (two). But ah, bilib sila sa akin (they admired me),” he enthused. He declined to name who were the two.

Duterte was narrating the plenary session of the East Asia Summit last Thursday, Sep. 8. Participants in the East Asia Summit which follows the ASEAN summit are the 10 members of Asean namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam joined by dialogue partners Australia, China, Japan, India, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea, and United States.

Duterte said that he threw away his prepared speech and presented, complete with pictures, the atrocities committed by American soldiers to Filipinos during the Philippine-American war (1899–1902).

“We were warned that we were limited to a prepared speech. But (when) it was handed to me I just threw it away, and I said, ‘I’d like to say something more than myself. Since, we have been talking about human rights, then I pulled out the—look at the pit, look at the bodies crowded there, they could number 200, and one soldier was holding his rifle with his feet on the breast of a Moro. Tell me now, can anybody here in this room… I asked them, can anybody in this room tell me what human rights is all about?”

Duterte said Indonesian President Widodo approved of what he did. He said they made a thumbs up sign to each other. (WE) were shaking with joy that I decided to just talk with sense and the truth.”

Reports said at the end of the EAS session, U.S. President Barack Obama shook hands with each and every leader except Duterte.

President Duterte is welcomed by Laos President Bounnhang Vorachith.
President Duterte is welcomed by Laos President Bounnhang Vorachith.

A gushing Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay, Jr. described the President’s performance in 2016 Asean and EAS as “brilliant.”
This is despite the fact that Duterte and his officials spent a lot of time and efforts doing damage control for the curses he uttered against Obama in his pre-departure for Laos statement.

Even when he was in Jakarta, Duterte was still explaining to the Filipino community that he did not curse Obama. He said his statement,” Putang-ina, mumurahin kita diyan sa forum na iyan. Huwag mo akong ganunin,” did not mean he called Obama “son of a whore” as translated by international media.

His explanation is stunning, it would render you speechless. He said putang ina is like saying “son- of- a bitch” or son- of- a- gun”, not son-of a whore.

He said that was the same when he also said Putang ina mo, Pope.”

“It was not really a statement against the Pope. At itong Amerikano mahusay talaga, Americans really can spin a story. They use the predicate or the adjective that is really worst to hear…

“Iyong putang ina sa atin, they connected with the word “son of a whore.” A ‘whore’ is a very terrible thing to hear. I was talking all along in the dialect. The best combinations thereof the words, translating it to English, and they do it every day, “son of a bitch,” “son of a gun,” ‘di ba?

“Eh putang ina sa atin, sa—if the Filipinos will try to utter it we would have said, “he is a son of a bitch” and you heard of ‘son of a gun’ or ‘fuck you’. Pero it is not translated in any ordinary day and ordinary lang you say, ‘son of a whore’. Pero ginamit nila iyan, kaya siguro si... took offense. Tingnan mo mag gamit ang international press, I said ‘you better watch out.’ Pangkaraniwan sa akin—everybody man here, whether American, African or—who knows English would surely say, ‘son of a bitch,’ ‘son of a gun,’ it is not ‘son of a whore’. There’s never a translation for that, ‘di ba? “

Duterte hinted he has more to give than what he did in the Laos meeting. If it were a birthday, he said, the Asean 2016 was just a 16th birthday, not the 18th, when one makes a formal debut.

“This is just regional. You wait for international,” Duterte said.

Published inForeign Affairs

18 Comments

  1. chi chi

    Ang yabang-yabang niya, hindi naman guapo! Hahahahaha!

  2. Lurker Lurker

    Quite the arrogant little prick, isn’t he?

  3. saxnviolins saxnviolins

    “Iyong putang ina sa atin, they connected with the word “son of a whore.” A ‘whore’ is a very terrible thing to hear. I was talking all along in the dialect. The best combinations thereof the words, translating it to English, and they do it every day, “son of a bitch,” “son of a gun,” ‘di ba?

    The Supreme Court beat Duterte to the punch on this. About 47 years ago, they unanimously (walang dissent) said the following:

    “Agustin, putang ina mo”. This is a common enough expression in the dialect that is often employed, not really to slander but rather to express anger or displeasure. It is seldom, if ever, taken in its literal sense by the hearer, that is, as a reflection on the virtues of a mother. In the instant case, it should be viewed as part of the threats voiced by appellant against Agustin Hallare, evidently to make the same more emphatic.

    I will give credit where it is due. I read about this decision from Roberto Tiglao, who credited a commenter on his blog.

    Totoo naman. We normally say putang ina more in anger, than to comment about the virtues, or want thereof, of someone’s mother. I, myself, when something goes wrong, tend to say, “Putang inang buhay ito.”

    Tiglao equates our PIM with the F word of the Americans – an all-purpose word here in the US. It is used in anger, and many other emotions. You even hear them say “fucking great”.

    Similarly, in Madrid, you can hear exchanges like:

    Como fue la fiesta? How did the trip go? (fiesta is party sa Castila, not town festival)?

    De puta madre tio
    Goddamn great man, or fucking great. (tio is slang for dude or man, not uncle).

    Some literal translating American might think that means whore mom.

    A American friend In at least two gatherings (him, his Pinay wife, me, their in-house Ecuadorian-American lawyer, Korean-American accountant, his Dutch-Jewish uncle and aunt) has cracked the following joke:

    What is another word for mono-lingual?
    American.

  4. saxnviolins saxnviolins

    Oops. Baka nandiyan ang grammar police.

    That should read “An American friend.”

  5. Mike Mike

    Kamalas naman. Nawala na sana yung aroganteng mahilig sa games ang pumalit naman isang aroganteng magilig magmura.

  6. Sa pagsalita abroad kaharap ang ibang mga presidente ay walang tatalo kay Marcos. Hinahangaan at pinapalakpakan si Marcos kapag nagsasalita na. Wag kayo puro reklamo kay Duterte dahil kahit sinong nanalo ganun din gagawin niyo mag reklamo. Ang dapat niyong gawin sisihin niyo ang mga tao na nagpatalsik kay Marcos. Nabasa ko sa diyaryo may isang abogado na ginusto niya talaga na mapatalsik si Marcos at nangyayari nga. Pero gusto niya na ang Bataan Nuclear Power Plant ay mag operate na. Sa mga panahon na iyon gusto niya na hindi mag operate iyon pero ngayon gusto na niya para daw mura ang kuryente at maayos ang pag serbisyo. At nasabi pa niya may mga nagawa na hindi maganda si Marcos pero may mga kabutihan din na nagawa. Ang ibang mga bansa may nuclear power plant at si Marcos sa panahon niya ay sumabay siya sa bansa na iyon na magkaroon ng nuclear power plant. Pero wala ring nangyari dahil pinatalsik siya sa puwesto at hindi naging operational. Nagbabayad pa ang bansa sa nagasto na iyon pero walang income.

  7. I remember saying to friende “tanginamo pare, galing mo a!” for an unexpected chess move that gave him the win.

    Even so, the President should fulfill his promise to clean up his mouth. He is the President, for God’s sake.

  8. Ok na ok ang ginawa na paalisin ang mga amerikanong sundalo sa mindanao. Nang sa ganun ay mag utos din ang amerika na alisin ang mga sundalo nila dito sa Pilipinas. At kapag wala ng mga sundalong amerikano ay makaka penetrate na ang mga terorista sa Pilipinas. At sa ganun ay magkagulo na.

  9. Why did he even have to say Putang Ina knowing that he is talking about international leaders in an international meeting?

  10. chi chi

    #10. Sa palagay ko Ellen, tuwing empty ang thought yan ang pansaksak sa bibig. Putang Ina rin ang kanyang transitional word.

    Apir na may sinasabi, barako pa. 🙂

  11. jcj2013 jcj2013

    It is obvious that Duterte returned from the ASEAN summit empty-handed. Wala siyang napala at maging ang bansa na anumang ikakadagdag sa ating national honor and pride, and trade and economic benefits kundi kabaligtaran pa nga. Pinahiya lang nya ang Pinoy doon.

    Bakit kailangang magmura ang pangulo nang madalas at sa harap pa man din ng mga lider ng ibang bansa? Pangulo siya, hindi naman kargador sa pantalan o tagahasa ng gunting at gulok sa kanto.

    It is clear that this president is suffering from severe psychosis. Dapat magpa-rehab o mental asylum na siya sa lalong madaling panahon.

  12. roc roc

    best performance ni digong still to come is when he plays streaker in one of the summits. hubad! yes! running up the stage ala oblation run. no need for him to wear business suit then.

  13. saxnviolins saxnviolins

    Below is an article from the Wall Street Journal, where the author acknowledges that the non-literal translation of the PIM is son of a bitch, not son of a whore.

    Other than that correction, the article is an incisive analysis of the US-Philippine relations.

    The comments section is worth reading as well. There is a spirited exchange, and very little name-calling, like in comments sections of other newspapers. Below are a few choice comments:

    The US now takes back seat to certain Asian & Middle Eastern nations in this now multi-centric world: the WWII dominance has come to an end for the US, as important as we remain to global democracy & capitalism. I expect that the Philippines will accept China’s dominance of the South China Sea in return for some economic goodies. After all, where was Obama when Russia invaded the Ukraine & Assad crossed the poison-gas “red line”? Or even when Russia attacked Georgia in 08?

    I am not suggesting that having a windbag as a president is necessarily bad, but Reagan or Kennedy probably would have acted differently in those situations. Sorry, “actions speak louder than words”, folks.

    The Philippines is ripe for the picking by China. A railway or two, some hospitals and airports and a few other goodies will seal the deal. The US has nothing to offer but some old navy boats and arms for the military…much of which are sold on to the Abu Sayaaf and others…LOL.
    Perhaps the US should offer other things that go to the people, like, ummm railways, hospitals, airports, highways that work and all that good stuff that builds countries and enduring relationships.

    To announce ahead of time that the purpose of the meeting between Obama and Duerte is to criticize the Philippine government is extremely patronizing. Obama does not do it with China or Russia. This is no way to build a viable defense alliance.

    Hindi mga NoyPi yan. One commenter even pointed to a book he wrote:

    We fought the Philippine Republic, a Christian democracy, for fourteen years and destroyed it. See Chapter Ten of my book Twelve American Wars. 3rd ed. Kindle at Amazon.

  14. saxnviolins saxnviolins

    Sorry. Here is the link.

    wsj.com/articles/duterte-throws-a-grenade-in-washingtons-china-strategy-1473239479

    tatlong w sa harap.

  15. saxnviolins saxnviolins

    It is true, hindi dapat magmura. But the explanation was not a lame excuse, as seems to be the point of this article, and other Pinoy opinion-makers.

    “Iyong putang ina sa atin, they connected with the word “son of a whore.” A ‘whore’ is a very terrible thing to hear. I was talking all along in the dialect. The best combinations thereof the words, translating it to English, and they do it every day, “son of a bitch,” “son of a gun,” ‘di ba?

    Two points in the quoted comments are noteworthy.

    Bakit nga ba binibigyan tayo ng used military equipment, eh sinabi naman natin [The Penoy and Digong said so), that we do not want to go to war against China. So like the third comment above says, a railroad here, an airport there, would help nation building, not that dilapidated Gregorio Del Pilar junk.

    Similarly, the fourth comment also makes a worthy point. You announce na le-lecturan mo ako, and you expect me to be contrite? To be submissive? Ano ako? Student mo? Vassal? Patronizing nga. Ginawa ba yan sa Saudi king?

  16. Whether “P*tang ina” means whore or bitch is of little importance. I’d like to say it’s picking nits but by the way the twisted logic of such an excuse is being overplayed even in mainstream media, I’d say the nits being picked are as big as ostrich eggs. Either way, you don’t use “putang ina” in the same sentence that refers to a foreign leader unless you’re in a war with his country. I’m not Anti-Digong but I know he’s plain wrong there.

    BTW, it’s not just used Navy cutters, just before the elections, we received 150 Armored Personnel Carriers (APC) from the US. We can use 50 of those in Sulu and the whole island (and Abu Sayyaf) is probably in full control. But we can’t do that, why because we don’t have transport ships to do that and that is the purpose of those we ordered from Australia. Meanwhile we engage the Abu Sayyaf on foot unarmored.

    On Americans’ reactions, same here, sax. I was just reading a friend’s post on FaceBook. He was a former CIA agent before his cover was blown and arrested in Russia. Before that he worked at the US embassy in Manila and married a Pinay from Samar. Most of the discussion was on the details of the Spanish-American, Fil-Am, WWII wars and they were talking details many of us Pinoys never knew about. I read new stories surrounding the Balangiga Massacre, the Bud Dajo Massacre, Aguinaldo from ex-soldiers, ex-CIA and ex-US embassy people plus regular Americans and some Pinoys. The depth of the convo was very intimidating I just read and listened. They, too, were divided on Duterte. LOL.

  17. roc roc

    from narco-politics to necro-politics, that’s digong’s metamorphosis.

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