How can the public determine if President Duterte is telling a joke in the middle of a formal speech?
Amid the controversy arising from his joke about marijuana use, the President explained that if his statement was “too ridiculous,” it must be a joke.
“Kung hindi kayo g***, I was presiding over the plenary mag-hithit ako ng marijuana? Pagka-ganun when it is too ridiculous, it must be a joke,” he said during the awarding ceremony of the 2017 Presidential Award for Child-Friendly Municipalities and Cities in Malacanang Wednesday.
The President even cracked another joke about marijuana during his speech, asking the audience if they had one so he could stay awake.
“Teka muna kay inaantok ako. Sinong may marijuana diyan?” he said in jest, drawing laughter from the crowd.
The President, however, defended his penchant of giving jokes after getting criticisms from some groups for making light of marijuana, saying these were meant to “lighten a dull moment.”
He called the media “bugok” for falling for his marijuana joke during a recent event in Malacanang.
Recently, the President said he used marijuana to stay awake after complaining about the hectic schedule in a recent regional summit. He later clarified to reporters that he was only joking. Some groups, however, did not find the President’s marijuana comment funny.
“Lalo nung ASEAN? Eh sabi ko, I was so sleepy,” said Duterte, who missed several events at the regional summit to take power naps.
“Pero just to lighten a dull moment mo. Biro mo… Lahat kami natutulog. Ang recording na lang ang buhay. Wala. Silent naman for interspersed with silence sa…Kasi natutulog. Una si Bolkiah, ako ang sunod,” he said. (Genalyn D. Kabiling)
