President Duterte on Monday publicly confessed that he uses marijuana to stay awake and cope with his heavy workload.
The President, however, clarified later that he was merely joking about his marijuana use to lighten the mood of a Palace event.
“Plastic ang ginamit ko. Plastic na marijuana,” Duterte said after leading the tribute to the late Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago in Malacañang.
“It was a joke of course. It was a joke but nobody can stop me from just doing my style,” he added.
The President made the clarification after making a controversial drug confession in an earlier event at the Palace. He claimed that he used marijuana to keep stay awake during a hectic schedule of the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit.
“Nakita man ninyo. It’s a killing activity and I think the… My age, ako hindi masyado kasi nagma-marijuana ako eh para ma – para magising. Sa iba hindi na kaya,” Duterte said during the conferment of awards for the ASEAN national organizing council officials and personnel at the Palace.
But the President, in a later media interview, explained that he was just trying to lighten the mood during the assembly in Malacañang.
“I want to shake the tree in the middle of a speech kasi boring ‘pag wala. Alam mo naman nagpapatawa talaga ako kasi boring pag wala ano,” he said.
“Nobody could stop me from just doing my style. Minsan sabi ninyo misogynist ako kasi magbiro ako ng ganun, that’s my style it’s too late to change. If I want to joke, I will joke,” he added.
At the ASEAN awarding ceremony, the President turned serious when he complained about the grueling schedule of summit meetings. He even called the attention of the ASEAN secretariat to consider adjusting the hectic itinerary of world leaders to ensure an efficient and productive summit.
He bewailed that recent regional meetings were closely scheduled and comprised within a day, leaving some world leaders exhausted or sleepy at times. (Genalyn D. Kabiling)