Duterte: If I can love 100M Pinoys, I can love 4 women

Davao City mayor and presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte is torn between four lovers, and he's embracing the fact completely, even amid criticisms.

In a speech after he was officially endorsed by the PDP-Laban as its standard bearer on Monday, the tough-talking local executive even went as far as saying that he would choose women over love, money and even the presidency.

"If you can love your fellow men, if you love the Filipino people -- love enough to serve you and to die for you -- how can I not love four women in my life?" he said.

"When I say I'm here because I love the Filipino people, and I'm ready to serve, certainly...  If I can love 100 million and one, I can love four women at the same time," added Duterte, who filed his certificate of candidacy for president Friday last week.

He added: "Alam n'yo bakit sinasadya ko 'yan? 'Yan ang atake nila sa akin."

During his speech, Duterte teased a friend who he said is a doctor for his ailing wife, Elizabeth, as well as one of his girlfriends.

"Mga apat na Mrs. Duterte," he said, drawing laughter from the audience. "Minsan nalilito siya."

In an event in Taguig City on Sunday -- Taguig being the turf of his running mate, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano -- Duterte, 70, drew cheers from the crowd as he also disclosed that he has two wives and two girlfriends.

He makes the candid confession even when his COC for president says he is single.

"Sinasabi nila, 'Anong credentials mo? Anong ipapakita mo sa Pilipinas? Balita namin babaero ka?' Tama. Tama talaga. May asawa ako, may pangalawang asawa ako," he said before supporters.

Aside from Elizabeth, with whom he has three children -- Sara, Paolo, and Sebastian -- Duterte said he has a second wife, a former nurse in the US, with whom he has a daughter named Veronica.

He said he got his second wife pregnant when he was a congressman, going to and fro the US.

Aside from them, he adds: "Dalawa ang girlfriend ko," both of whom are working in a mall in Davao City. He says the younger and "more ambitious" of them works in the cosmetics department, while the other -- "medyo matanda na pero mas maganda" -- is a cashier.

"Gusto n'yo akong maging presidente? Kailangan n'yo malaman ang pagkatao ko... Wala akong tinatago," he said.

'Hindi nabubuhay sa pera ng gobyerno'

The mayor, however, was proud to say that while he has four women in his life, he supports them with money from his own pocket.

"I assure you, people of Metro Manila: Hindi ito nabubuhay sa pera ng gobyerno," he told the crowd. "Hindi sa DAP (Disbursement Acceleration Program)... Simple lang itong mga babaeng ito... Hindi sila nabubuhay sa pera ng Siyudad ng Davao."

He added: "Binubuhay ko sila sa sweldo ko, at allowances... Malaki-laki naman 'yun, kaya kapag mayor ka, hindi na kailangang mangurakot."

Duterte even said in jest that he has rented a room for each of them in a boarding house, at P1,500 a month.

He added that he thumbed down a request from his younger girlfriend for a secondhand car from Toyota, given his connection to the owner of the branch in Davao City.

He said he explained to her, "Ano naman ang biyahe natin sa buhay nating dalawa? Sunduin kita doon sa boarding house mo, pasok tayo sa motel -- short time lang naman -- tapos ihatid kita."

Duterte said that given his age, they somehow save on renting a room at the motel, since he can only go for one round -- and with the help of Viagra, he said.

"Noong bata pa ako, overnight. Medyo magastos 'yun... Ngayon, short time, kasi napaka-short na talaga ng panahon ko," he said.

'That is my happiness'

In an interview following Sunday night's event, Duterte says that if critics do not want to vote for him because he is a womanizer, they have other options.

"That would not deter me. That is my happiness. If you do not want me as president because I have four or five women, then you vote for... Marami naman diyan," he told reporters.

He said he is okay if he ranks low in surveys, and even if the Commission on Elections decides to disqualify him. He said that he would go back to his life in Davao, where he will retire, if that happens, or if he loses the election.

"Mas importante sa akin ang pag-ibig kaysa presidency. Totoo! Presidency -- sige, trabaho ka diyan, pero wala naman... Kung pag-ibig, maligaya ka sa loob at sa labas." —Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/KBK, GMA News