Duterte tells Bohol mayor: 'I will grab and hold on to your panty until the garter snaps'

Notorious for his controversial statements including those about women, President Rodrigo Duterte openly "flirted" with a mayor from Bohol whom he claimed to be separated from her husband.

Speaking at a campaign rally on Wednesday night, Duterte showered praise on Tita Baja-Gallantes, the mayor of Garcia Hernandez town which hosted the event in support of the gubernatorial bid of former Cabinet Secretary Leoncio “Jun” Evasco Jr., a longtime aide of the President.

“The mayor asked me today, ‘Why did you come here? Is it because of your love for the people of Bohol?’ That’s one of the reasons, ma’am... First, she said that she’s the mother of your municipality. Then she said that I am the father of the nation,” the President said in his speech.

“Actually I’m not trying to pull your leg. But the truth is ang balita ko if I may allow to say it in public and it will not offend you, you and your husband are separated,” he added.

Duterte was previously married to Elizabeth Zimmerman with whom he has three children, including Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte. He is now living with his common-law wife Honeylet Avanceña, the mother of his youngest child Veronica.

“Can you run away with me? You have children, don’t you, mayor? How many children do you have? I have three, four. I have four but they’re all grown up already so I don’t have a problem there anymore,” he said.

Duterte added he visited Bohol to “play the game of love” as he quipped about asking former Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go to take care of his wife while he was away.

“I just talk like that but I’m just joking. And you are truly beautiful,” he said.

“If it were me, why would I ever break up with you? I will really grab and hold on to your panty if you try to leave, even until the garter snaps. You’re just too beautiful.”

Duterte continued: “Ma’am is frowning already. She’s probably thinking, 'P— ina ka Duterte, if you don’t fulfill your promise, you better watch out or else I’ll have you assassinated by my police'.”

Various quarters had criticized Duterte for his derogatory remarks against women, including linking women’s beauty to rape, ordering troops to shoot female rebels in the vagina, joking about the gang rape and murder of an Australian missionary, and telling soldiers to rape women in Marawi at the height of the military campaign against the Islamic State-inspired Maute group that laid siege to the city in 2017.

He also drew criticism for claiming that he “touched” his maid when he was a teenager and kissing a Filipino woman on stage during his visit to South Korea in June last year.

Malacañang, however, said that the President is not anti-women.

Aside from Baja-Gallantes, the President previously spoke about a supposed former flame who happens to be a politician  as well.

Duterte said Agusan del Norte Governor Angelica Amante-Matba was one of those who supported his presidential bid in 2016. —KBK, GMA News