Torture COA auditors? Obviously another Duterte joke, says Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte's stand-up routine continues.

A day after he said state auditors of the Commission on Audit ought to be kidnapped and tortured for getting in the way of governance because of their stringent protocols, his spokesman said the statement was obviously a joke.

“Masyado namang obvious na nagpapatawa lang yun regarding the COA,” Secretary Salvador Panelo said in a message to reporters.

“Iyang si Presidente, pareho lang kami niyan, sutil ang tawag dun... The more you criticize his style the more he will stick to his mischief and irreverence,” he added.

Panelo said Duterte was not serious when he suggested the torture of state auditors when he expressed frustration over COA supposedly making it difficult for government to deliver of social services.

He said Duterte was “chiding COA not to derail ongoing government projects by certain stringent protocols that go against the letter and intent of the law.”

A lawyer by profession, Duterte had questioned how government officials and employees could be convicted in court for violation of COA circulars, which for him did not have the force and effect of laws.

Duterte said he was willing to take responsibility should COA flag local government transactions in providing humanitarian assistance to the people hit by calamities, especially in the wake of Typhoon Ompong that lashed Luzon provinces in September last year.

Duterte made the torture joke before 4,000 local officials in Metro Manila that gathered for the Barangay Summit on Peace and Order in Pasay City.

“P— ina 'yang COA na 'yan. Leche. Kasi 'yung COA, every time, may mali talaga. Ano ba itong COA na ito? Mag-kidnap tayo ng taga-COA, lagay natin dito, i-torture natin dito. T— ina," Duterte said.

"Sino ba gusto makulong ng ano? Puro 'yan pahirapan. 'Yan ang ayaw ko ang pahirapan. You resolve the meaning of the words in favor of its implementation. Huwag ka sige maglagay d'yan ng hadlang," he added.

Duterte earlier drew flak for advising local officials to ignore regulations on government spending and joking about pushing COA employees down the stairs. —NB, GMA News