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Former President Rodrigo R. Duterte may no longer be in public service. His tenure as president of the country officially finished at noon on the 30th of June 2022 after serving the Filipinos for a single term of six years, but his brand of campaigning, his language used in public speeches, and his mannerisms manifested in public is really - worth studying and understanding particularly among the younger generation of Filipinos.
In this post, we'll try to analyze the controversial language that former President Rodrigo R. Duterte used in his public speeches and why he is still popular among the Filipinos more than a year after he stepped down from office in 2022.
Like the previous administrations, the administration of former president Rodrigo R. Duterte also had its share of issues and controversies ranging from his friendly relationship with neighboring China, corruption in his administration, and his administration's controversial bloody drug war which claimed thousands of drug personalities and government authorities.
These personal and national issues have divided the Filipinos. Depending on which side you are with. If you are on the side of the administration, you will just brush off these jokes as politicking but if you are critical of his government his jokes are inappropriate for a person occupying the highest post of the country.
Another controversy confronted by the former president during his presidency was his language used in his public speeches for which he had become the subject of criticism and branded him as misogynist and anti-women by different groups, particularly by some women’s groups.
Threats, sex jokes & curse-laced language
In his public speeches, the former president never fails to entertain and lighten up the mood of his audience by injecting his speeches with green jokes, sexual slurs and curses which would always enrage his critics.
To his die-hard supporters, these are just ordinary jokes to lighten up the mood and keep the audience awake during his speech, but to his critics these jokes are unpresidential and inappropriate.
Kissing an audience
To further agitate his critics, in his visit to South Korea, the former president not only delivered verbal jokes but also kissed the lips of a woman in the audience, drawing laughter from the mostly Filipino audience.
This kissing incident again
stirred controversy among his critics calling this incident inappropriate for a person occupying the highest position of the land.
Knees issue with vice president
Another joke directed at women particularly at the former Vice-President Leni Robredo. She was not spared from President Duterte’s jokes.
In one of his speeches, he jokingly said that he and some of his cabinet officials would occasionally take a glimpse of the Vice-President’s knees during a meeting.
This
revelation again elicited laughter from the audience. In response, the then vice-president Leni would just exude her trademark smile.
I should be the first.
Another issue he shared with the audience that enraged his critics was the rape case of an Australian missionary woman who was allegedly raped by hostage-takers before she was killed in a hostage-taking incident in one of the provinces in Mindanao in the 80s.
Former Rodrigo R. Duterte jokingly said “Ang Mayor ang dapat mauna” “or in English said the mayor should have been the first to do it referring to his former position.”
Instead of getting angered by the revelation, the joke just drew laughter from the Filipinos except those critical of him.
Shooting the vagina
Another controversy that angered some women’s groups critical of the former president was when he jokingly ordered the military officials to shoot the women rebels in the vagina.
This shooting in the vagina joke again got him entangled with women’s groups who dislike his jokes. But surprisingly, instead of getting angered, the audience laughed at this joke.
Underwear issue
Former President Rodrigo also joked about clinging to a beautiful lady executive’s underwear if and when this lady mayor would leave him and if he were her husband.
Killings issue
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Other jokes of the former president were about killing uniformed personnel who never admit his and his companions’ alleged crimes by throwing him off from a helicopter, killing and throwing into a river an online scammer selling substandard facemasks, and a criminal to be thrown in the crater of a volcano.
During the campaign period in 2016, the former President also confessed before a large crowd to have killed kidnappers in his city of Davao.
But the former president is not all curses, threats and green jokes, there are also virtues of him that millions of Filipinos voted him into office such as:
Bravery
His bravery was manifested when he fought an organized drug syndicate, fired erring high - ranking cabinet officials and publicly named politicians allegedly involved in illegal drugs.
Strong-willed and decisive
The former president was strong-willed as he never backed down and hesitated in making big decisions of national concern.
Compassion
When uniformed personnel died or killed, he would never fail to console and sympathize with the bereaved families by personally visiting the homes of the deceased.
Sense of humor
The former president also possesses the distinct trait of being humorous. In his public speeches he would never fail to inject humor; some of these are sexual slurs directed towards women which would get him into trouble with women groups.
Favorite phrases
Papatayin talaga kita ( I will really kill you), P…I… ( Son of a b….)
Because of his green jokes and sexual slurs, former President Rodrigo Dutere would always get entangled in controversy with women’s groups.
He had also been accused of being a misogynist and anti-woman by some women's groups. But then again despite his profanity -laced speeches and green jokes, more than 16 million Filipinos voted and catapulted him to the presidency.
Still popular & well-loved
But despite the green jokes, curses, threats, and sexual slurs directed towards women, the former Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Dutere’s still enjoys high popularity among all social classes.
President Duterte, no doubt, still wields strong political influence in Philippine politics.
In fact, in a survey for the midterm elections in 2025, he landed in the top five (5) among the most preferred for senators, a testament to the Filipinos’ continued loyalty to the former president.
You can hate or love him, the former President RRD, when asked if he would tone down his language once he would be in office as president, said at 70 plus years old, it would be too late for him to change his language.
Author: Samuel A. Escabarte, a Filipino licensed English language and literature teacher whose hobbies include singing, reading, writing , traveling, and sharing my country's diverse, rich culture.
