Duterte: Cursing is not a crime

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday defended his expletive-laden remarks in public, saying cursing is not a crime.

Speaking before health professionals in Pasay City, Duterte addressed criticisms that he is not acting like a statesman due to his foul mouth.

“I’d like to just be being a mayor so nothing much is expected of a mayor. And that has been the main complaint against me because they said, ‘he’s not a statesman. He talks in vulgar terms. And he --- epithets, curses, and all,’” he said.

Duterte claimed his manner of speaking is common among mayors in Mindanao, where Davao City is located. The President was a longtime Davao City mayor before he rose to power in 2016.

“You don’t get results when you do not say p— ina mo... The press, international, they don’t like me. So when I say ‘p— ina mo’, actually it’s a slang, we call it slang and it means son of a bitch,” he said.

“You know, it’s not even a crime. The Supreme Court said when you say those words: epithets, curses and slang words in the heat of anger, you tend to use the mother you know --- ‘F’ and everything.”

The SC, in a March 1969 decision, ruled that the phrase "putang ina mo" was not slanderous and should not be taken literally as an attack on the virtues of a mother.

"This is a common enough expression in the dialect that is often employed, not really to slander but rather to express anger or displeasure. It is seldom, if ever, taken in its literal sense by the hearer, that is, as a reflection on the virtues of a mother," said the ruling, which was penned by then Associate Justice Querube Makalintal, who later became Chief Justice.

Duterte added cuss words are also present in movies.

“In one movie I purposely did the listing. They said it 400 times in a 1 hour 45 minutes movie of [Netflix],” he said.

Duterte reiterated that he was not schooled on statesmanship because “otherwise I would have enrolled it and improve on my demeanor.”

He also defended his style of wearing barong with sleeves rolled-up.

“I said I’ve been mayor and they do not like my barong folded this way, because it’s a national attire,” he said.

“But I have been in this kind of characterization of my sartorial insanity and I just don’t follow rules.”

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo had earlier said Duterte is a “forthright person and the more his critics and detractors lambast him on his style and action, the more he will stick to them.”

“This irreverent side of the Chief Executive has endeared him to the overwhelming majority which catapulted him to the presidency,” he said in a statement in January.

“For him to change the very endearing ways that have struck a chord with the masses of our people just to please and appease his critics and the opposition is akin to dreaming an impossible dream.” — BAP, GMA News