March 8 is International Women’s Day to highlight the achievement of women in all fields – social, economic, cultural and political.
In the Philippines, where women have long proven their worth, they are still subjected to a lot of disrespect. And this is from no less than the President himself.
Last Feb. 22, in his speech at the 6th Regional Community Defense Group Ground, Camp General Adriano Hernandez, Dingle, Iloilo last Feb. 22, Duterte talked about the difficulty of maintaining two families with the salary he is getting as President.
He understated his salary by P98, 000 (http://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-duterte-understates-his-salary-again). But that is not the offensive part of the speech.
It was the reaction of the audience: They laughed when Duterte talked about having two families. Even the women found it funny.
Disgusting.
Here’s what Duterte said:
“If I overstay in the office even one day, you oust me and you kill me.
“Wala akong ambisyon. Gusto ko ngang umalis na. Alam mo kung bakit? Alam mo ba kung magkano ang sweldo ng Presidente? Sa pagod kong ito?…
“Sa pagod ko tapos alam mo ang sweldo ko? 200. Dalawa ang asawa ko.”
Watch the video and you can see the audience laughing.
This is not the first time Duterte regaled the audience about his having two families. Last year during the inauguration of New Hope Village, a Typhoon Haiyan rehabilitation housing in Sta. Elena, Tacloban City Jan. 25 he said the same thing and the audience also had the same reaction. They found it funny and they laughed.
Remember his repulsive joke about regretting that “Mayor” was the first to rape the Australian missionary? If you look at the video, everybody laughed.
It says a lot about how warped our values have become for us not to be disgusted with an official boasting about his immorality and disrespect of women.
***
Duterte loves that narrative of being an underpaid government official struggling to maintain two families.
In his Feb. 22 speech, Duterte said : “Totoo. Nagrereklamo ako sa kanila. 200? Wala akong meal allowance, wala akong representation.”
Duterte got his numbers wrong. He is receiving P298, 083.00 a month based on Executive Order 201 modifying the salary schedule for civilian government personnel and authorizing the grant of additional benefits for both civilian and military and uniformed personnel.
In his January 25 speech last year, he used a lower figure: P130, 000 monthly.
VERA Files Fact Check (http://verafiles.org/articles/vera-files-fact-check-how-much-does-president-duterte-earn-m) showed that “When he assumed the presidency in July last year, Duterte’s basic monthly salary was P165,752 until December 2016. The president understated his salary by P35,752.
“Starting Jan. 1, 2017, Duterte’s basic monthly salary rose to P222,278. This is 70 percent more than what the president said he was getting.
“Of the 33 pay levels in government, the highest salary grade is assigned exclusively to the president under Republic Act No. 6758 or the Compensation and Position Classification Act of 1989.
“Like other civil servants, the president began receiving a year-end bonus on top of the midyear bonus starting 2016.
“Duterte is reaping the benefits of Aquino’s Executive Order No. 201, which sought to increase salaries of government officials annually in four tranches. The order signed in February 2016 was retroactive to January 2016.
“Aquino, however, did not benefit from the adjustment since the 1987 Constitution exempts the incumbent president, vice president and members of Congress from salary increases until after their terms have expired. At the time he bowed out of office, Aquino was receiving a P120,000 monthly salary.
“Duterte’s salary in 2018 will be P298,083.
“In 2019, Duterte is expected to receive P399,739 under the modified salary schedule. By then the president will be receiving three times the amount he claimed to be getting in his speech.”
pinoys laugh out loud to hide and mask an uncomfortable moments, tawa ng tawa, else they cry. better tawa than crying, laughing on the outside, crying on the inside. kahit sa overseas, many pinoys laugh out loud, senseless paminsan ang laughter, averting bad blood from happening. duterte’s audience may laugh out loud, but we dont really know how they feel inside, there are things they dont share.
laughing at him, not with him, and duterte is playing the fool, playing the comic too, easier role to play than ruling the nation, solving daily problems as the worsening mrt, crime on the increase with daily killings mostly still unsolved. the rebuilding of marawi that is not yet happening and may not happen dahil kulang ng funds. the ever increasing presence of china creeping closer and closer to our shores, etc.
duterte’s lament for pay increase may mean there’s not enough money in the till, he is getting short of cash and there’s not enough funds to go around. chinese loans is palpak, our economy is in doldrums with more money going out with not enough coming in, taxes may have to be reviewed, upped and imposed. so laugh na lang sila, else they cry.
I’m not going to judge people by their laughter po. and I hope that one day, their laughter may turn to a more meaningful one.
I agree, we as a people often use laughter/smile/grin to mask pain, discomfort,and sometimes sadness. However, with a recidivist president who keeps on mouthing obscenities and uncouth language, then it’s probably time for the audience attending his events to train themselves to remain unmoved/unresponsive to his jokes/diatribes.
Thanks for your perceptive comments.
Pablo Nucum:
and when they laughed that’s when i felt most sorry. those audience who laughed are more worse than the person who made them laughed. they lost their morality and decency. their laughter is putting more fire in the foul mouth of the person i thought is good .
Sent from my iPhone
someone ought to show these laughing people that it’s okay not to laugh, it’s okay not to clap, it’s okay not to encourage the bad behavior of the president specially when he is at his worst, offensive, degrading and malicious. it’s okay not to clap for the sake of clapping, it okay not to laugh for the sake of laughing.
bad habits die hard, but they can die. starts developing good habits, overcome bad habits, start taking little steps towards making good habits. and who knows, maybe the president can learn from the audience and develop good habits too.
it all needs just one individual in the audience, the one not being sheep just obeying and following, going where all are going, staying back and being brave. it’s okay to be individual and not a part of a mob. it’s okay to stay put, to smile and keep your hands to yourself.
it’s okay to be individual.