Inside Philippine politics & beyond

President Duterte tells businessmen concerned about his war on drugs – “e di magsilayas kayo” (then leave)

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By Raïssa Robles

Just before boarding the plane to Tokyo, President Rodrigo Duterte read a prepared speech that spoke of friendship and shared alliance with Japan.

At times, his eyes would dart sideways and he would clamp his mouth shut, as if he was stopping himself from saying something.

On the front row sat his foreign secretary, Perfecto Yasay, who had just warned the media not to “provoke” the president into anger with questions. Yasay seemed to sit on the edge of his seat. He was clearly not comfortable, although he sat poker-faced.

Duterte got through his short speech with aplomb.

But clearly Duterte still wanted to say something. He started talking off-the-cuff.

He himself opened up the floor to questions from the media.

And pretty soon, the insults, the obscenities came out of his mouth against the US and the EU (European Union).

Along the way, he took a swipe at the foreign businessmen operating in the Philippines who had expressed their concern over his “war on drugs”.

“E di magsilayas kayo (Then leave),” President Duterte told them.

Did the media again provoke Duterte into anger?

Duterte’s tirade against American officials was not provoked by any question. He himself had opened up on the matter. He was apparently provoked by the news that came out on the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Because he kept showing the Inquirer’s front page.

The reporter who had asked him about EDCA – which allows the presence of American troops in the country – had merely “provoked” him further. Although it was a very tame and legitimate question about EDCA.

I don’t know why, but what the President just did at the airport reminds me of a child staging a tantrum. And when it was over, all the President’s men present clapped at his performance.

Comments

  1. The devil is on the details.

    “Chinese company banned by Word Bank bags PH infrastructure project” (inquiretdotnet) by Nikko Dizon, October 26, 2016

    A Chinese construction firm banned by the World Bank and a dredging firm that Beijing reportedly used for reclamation activities in the disputed Spratly Islands were among the companies that bagged big-ticket infrastructure projects in the Philippines during the recent state visit of President Duterte to China.

    • The guy must have a brain the size of a walnut. All of the dredging companies involved in the dredging at tje Spratlys must be taken to the International courts for causing irreversible damage to the marine environment on a scale which is difficult to imagine.
      It is this indiscriminate and uncontrolled style of dredging which has contributed to the decimation of the Chinese fisheries, the end result of which being massive Chinese fish poaching in Philippine waters. The CEO’s of the dredging companies should be imprisoned.
      Seems like the Duterte dredging monitoring team gained their experience digging fish ponds.

      • Of all the things Duterte needed to deal with whilst in China, reparation for this catastrophic destruction should have been close to the top of the list.

        • thanks for the link. what some more bad news? I think, the deal digong made with china as regard the banned chinese firms (that bagged the projects) was done in china, and may fall outside pinas jurisdiction, outside the scope of our labor laws.

          so, kahit anong kalolohang gawin ng banned firms, we have no say. they may pollute the environment anew, bring in chinese workers, said projects maybe overpriced, and may not comply local building requirements.

          we maybe left with infrastructures we dont want, cant managed, and cant maintain.

        • we’ll be forever calling in the chinese to do repair and maintenance work of said infrastructures. sila lang yata ang nakakalaaman kung anong dapat gawin. kung galawin natin ang infrastructures and try to do our own maintenance work, doing so could nullify the waranty dahil hindi tayo authorized. and we may not have the blueprint.

        • CHEC may be corrupt but under proper supervision they are a match for any contractor world wide. UNDER PROPER SUPERVISION, I guess that can be ruled out under the terms of the agreements reached during Duterte’s visit to China.
          No bidding, No Contract, No Contract Documents, No Contract Specification and of course, no COMPETITIVE bidding.
          Money for old rope.
          Seems like Alan Peter Cayetano is no better than all those persons he condemned during the Blue Ribbon hearings.

        • the sea ports to be built by the banned firm in cebu, sabi ng mga cebuhanos nabahala rin daw sila, and will closely monitor the project kuno. yeah, right, as if the chinese will allow them cebuhanos to go within a kilometer radius of the port being built.

      • He’s thinking of his friends, his acquaintances, his bank accounts, his ego and his geriatric walnuts.

        Bahala na tayong lahat basta sila hapi-hapi.

        If you think this is bad, just imagine the havoc they’re inevitably about to unleash when they get their grubby hands on the constitution.

        This nightmare isn’t going to end in 6 years.

    • digong has entourage of 400 at the china trip, cayetano, the marcoses, floriendo and many more businessmen keen to do business with china. very hard to think that not one of them bother to check the credentials of those chinese entering business with digong. ano lang ba ang ginawa nila ruon?

      if the 400 are leaning towards corruption and got kickback from the chinese, naturally, they’ll look the other way and maybe, hoped that no one noticed. parang kinopya lang nila ang anomalous zte broadband deal na kagagawan ni gloria arroyo.

      • One huge environmental disaster swept under the carpet in order that walnut brain can satisfy his hangers on.
        I guess that they will soon start dredging again and further reduce the available fosh breeding areas.
        Why is the International community so quiet on this one?

        • Brexit fallout, Aleppo conflict, Mosul seige, Humanitarian/refugee crisis over at EU, Russia taking an aggressive stance, China expanding its borders, US presidential elections, etc. Lots of things happening right now.

          Sobrang imburnal lang talaga bunganga ni Duts kaya paminsan minsan we get international spotlight. But taking into consideration the bigger picture, we’re pretty much irrelevant.

        • Disagree. To those who speak with an American accent I think we are pretty relevant. All of us except walnut brain.

        • europe talk about us too, people there are also questioning digong’s ejk. maraming ofws duon. what is happening in pinas is also big news over there. we’re part of global community.

        • @am,
          “Why is the International community so quiet on this one?”
          oo nga, tahimik sila.
          ang hula ko: bakit naman sila mag-iingay pa?
          kung ang pinuno natin ay walang interes, sila pa kaya?

    • baka pag nasa bansa na ang mga kolokoy na yun ay mag-ooperasyon tok-bang sina bduts para makaganti sa pag-reclaim nila ng iskarboro…weeeeh!