Palace spokesman Harry Roque on Wednesday called on President Rodrigo Duterte to not make statements degrading other people’s weight because he was also fat.
Duterte on Monday, during a televised address, slammed Sen. Richard Gordon for grilling his allies linked to misuse of pandemic funds and told the senator to lose weight.
“Iba ka, adre. Ang advice ko sa iyo magpapayat ka muna para medyo… Nalilipong ako ‘pag tinitingnan kita. P****g ina. Huwag mong putulin ‘yan ha. Totoo ‘yan. Pati ‘yung buhok mo ngayon iba na ang hinapay,” the president said.
In his Palace briefing, Roque urged the president to not make such statements.
“I may be spokesperson but I agree. Mr. President, huwag mo na sitahin ang katabaan dahil mea culpa, mataba rin ako,” Roque said.
Roque further joked: “Mr. President, magpapapayat na rin po ako. Nagpapapayat naman ako kaya lang sarado ang mga gym kaya wala. Tapos noong panahon pang mag-e-exercise, pati exercise pinagbawalan. E ngayon ang hirap nang bumalik sa exercise pero susubukan ko po, magpapapayat din po ako.”
In response to Duterte, Gordon on Tuesday said only weak people resort to personal attacks.
“You know why I forgive you? Because you go into personal attacks. That’s fine with me. Alam ko mahina ang tao na nagaatake personal,” he said.
“Sabi nga against corruption siya…so I’m following his dictum. Dapat, ‘pag may corrupt labanan. Wala pa naman tayong sinasabing corruption. Nag-iimbestiga tayo. The nature of the blue ribbon is to investigate,” Gordon added. John Ezekiel J. Hirro