Duterte defends womanizing: Chauvinist, yes, but there's so many women, so little time

President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday picked up the cudgels for House Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez anew amid the issue over the legislator's alleged affair that has had sectors mulling disbarment complaints.

At the inauguration of the Metro Manila Crisis Monitoring and Management Center of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Duterte said he shared Alvarez's penchant for womanizing, saying it couldn't be helped.

“You can have as much as you want as long as you’re able to… The thing there is that you’re able to support the children. Iyon lang,” he said.

“Why do you have to bother about how many wives? There are so… It’s a chauvinist statement. But really there are so many women and you’re so short a time in this world. My god,” he added.

Duterte's marriage to ex-wife Elizabeth Zimmerman has been annulled. He is currently living with common-law wife Cielito “Honeylet” Avanceña.

In his speech, Duterte poked some fun at Alvarez, who was facing a disbarment case for admitting that he had other women aside from his wife and sired children from relationships outside marriage.

“I have no money but I have many wives. You said that you need money to have so many wives. My wives are all rich just like the Speaker Alvarez. Now, he is facing a disbarment. This is a world of hypocrisy. Sino ba’ng walang babae dito?” the President said.

He even called out Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, to the crowd’s amusement.

“Mayor Herbert, tumingin ka nga sa akin. Look at me straight in the eyes. And I’ll tell you that you’re a liar,” he added.

Duterte argued that being a womanizer should not be an issue especially with Alvarez as he is not a Catholic.

“That should be a non-issue actually. And do you know kung alam ba ninyo, Speaker Alvarez is not a Catholic. He’s just like me, his grandfather Chinese. Ang nanay niya Kalagan, Muslim. Those are the Muslims of Davao.  My lola is a Maranao. I am half-Chinese, half-Maranao but my father was a Cebuano,” he said.

“Ganoon kami. Kaya maski magsabi ‘yang Bebot na ‘yan, marunong ‘yan. Sabi niya, lima, apat na. Walang tayong magawa. He never converted to Christianity. So he is not bound by the rules of the number of women that you can have,” he added.

Duterte claimed only Christians are bound to monogamy, which shouldn't apply to atheists.

“Sabihin mo man, when you are charged Herbert, you need not really… mademanda ka talaga balang araw. Huwag mong sabihin that you are a Catholic or you are a Protestant,” he said.

“All you have to say is that… I my… An atheist. Kung Atheist ka, kasi the Christian, Judeo-Christian is one wife. But if you are an atheist, so?” he added. —JST, GMA News