PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, September 18, downplayed as a "mere joke" his latest remarks about the 2018 ambush of former Daanbantayan, Cebu mayor Vicente Loot.
Duterte made the latest remark during his phone conversation with Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo.
"Sabi nga niya kanina, 'Eh sila naman, palagi ko nang sinasabi iyan. Alam naman nila na ever since, nagbibiro ako diyan tungkol diyan, apart from 'yung kung minsan iba ang nasasabi ko. Pero 'yun yun,'" Panelo told Palace reporters in a chance interview, quoting the President.
(He said earlier today, "They should be used to it because I've been repeatedly saying that. They know ever since that I'm joking with regard to that, apart from some occasions that I flip-flop.)
The clarification was made after Duterte, in an event at Palace's Rizal Hall on Tuesday, September 17, said that he was behind the attempt on Loot's life.
Loot and his family survived an ambush by unidentified assailants at the Maya Wharf in Daanbantayan, Cebu in May last year.
Loot was one of five retired police generals named by Duterte in 2016 as drug protectors.
Panelo said it was not the President's style to order the killing of any individuals.
He added that Duterte, as a "good prosecutor and a good lawyer," knows the consequences of "whatever statements he made."
"He (Duterte) can never order the ambush of anybody. That's not his style. Kung 'yung mga personal na kalaban niya, hindi niya pinapa-ambush kahit na anong gawin sa kanya, eh lalo pa 'yung hindi niya naman kaaway (He does not even order the ambush of his personal enemies, so it's more unlikely for him to order the ambush of someone who is not his enemy)," he said.
"So ganoon. Consistent siya sa mga pagbibiro niya at 'yung pagkakamali niya sa Pilipino ay natural sa kanya (So that's it. He's consistent with his jokes and it's natural for him to make mistakes because of his lack of proficiency in the Filipino language). It's not his native tongue," Panelo added. (SunStar Philippines)