DA NANG, VIETNAM — President Rodrigo Duterte claims he had stabbed a person to death after once picking up a fight when he was sixteen years old.
Speaking before members of the Filipino community on Thursday night, Duterte, now 72, explained anew why he is not scared of going to jail amid the continued criticisms of his bloody drug war.
“P**** i**, 'pag ginawa mo sa Pilipino iyan, hihiritan kita. Kulong? Ay sus. Kulong, eh noong teenager ako pasok-labas-pasok ako sa kulungan (son of a b****. If you do that to the Filipino, I will really kill you. Jail? When I was a teenager, I was in and out of jail. One fight there, another here)," the President said.
“At the age of 16, may pinatay na ako. Tao talaga, rambol. Saksak. Noong 16 years old iyon, nagkatinginan lang (at the age of 16, I killed someone. A person. During a fight. Stabbing. I was 16. Just because we looked at each other)," he recalled.
Malacañang however, brushed off the President’s remarks as something made “in jest.”
“The President uses colorful language when with Pinoys overseas,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque told the Manila Standard in a text message.
