ONE was scarier but which? President Duterte falling off a motorcycle inside the PSG compound in Malacañang or the President caught in a scuffle among women in the Barreto family’s wake for its patriarch?
The President’spokesman, Salvador Panelo, brushed off the President’s injury from the motorbike incident as “slight” although later it caused Duterte to cut short his Japan trip because of “unbearable pain.”
After the fray at The Heritage, a funeral facility in Taguig City, the other Wednesday (Oct. 16), Sen. Bong Go said they (Go, Duterte and Panelo) were “shocked” when the near-brawl erupted before them, “parang nag-shooting ng pelikula.”
Slapping, hair-pulling
The presidential reaction prompted the comment in an Oct. 19 report in South China Morning Post how the President, reputed for his toughness in the illegal drugs campaign, could be fazed by a squabble among women.
More precisely, it wasn’t Duterte or Panelo who spoke about the group’s reaction. It was the senator’s assessment on how the incident affected the three of them.
What happened? Versions of each camp in the family feud varied but independent reports said Gretchen and Nicole pulled each other’s hair while Claudine slapped Marjorie. That, after the President persuaded Gretchen, one of his endorsers in the last presidential election, to extend her hand to Marjorie, which the latter rejected as “plastic.”
There were three siblings and a niece in that scuffle but more were reportedly involved, including a businessman over whom two women in the same family line had fought.
Not placed at risk
The President’s safety was not put at risk at anytime. When the mild rumble began, PSG personnel quickly cordoned off Duterte and minutes later the Malacañang group left.
Surprise over the “we-were-shocked” reaction was harmless. There were memes too. One said “Breaking News! President Duterte will settle the Barreto feud in three-to-six-months,” a reference to the failed promise during the 2016 campaign to lick the drug problem in such a short period. The meme joked but did not deride.
Compared to the motorcycle accident, the Barreto public quarrel was unusual but couldn’t be worse for the president to get into.
Which pricked Presidential pride? His influence and charm couldn’t douse water on a raging dispute among women. Or he had lost his old skill in riding a big bike.
Go, Panelo as sources
Senator Go is still a reliable supplier of information about Duterte because of his near-total access to chief executive. But he cannot be deemed an expert on the President’s health since the motorbike fall or his state of mind after witnessing beautiful women in a catfight.
Panelo, also a non-doctor, has been certifying to Duterte’s fitness without showing any doctor’s certificate. But the spokesman has prudently not commented, yet, on how the President took the Barreto theatrics at the wake.