President Rodrigo Duterte responded curtly to criticisms of his absence from public eye in the midst this year’s strongest storm that led to the destruction of thousands of houses, left billions of pesos in damage and killed at least 16 people.
Duterte was in his hometown in Davao City when super typhoon Rolly landed across Luzon, and his absence during a televised Cabinet briefing on Sunday prompted the hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo (where is the President) to trend.
“Iyong nagsabi na wala ako rito kasi wala, nasa probinsya, so, what’s your problem? Ang mga papeles pinadala, tapos pirmahan ko. Ipadala ko ulit. Eh, machine lang naman iyan,” he said.
[Those who said that I was not here because I was in the province, so, what’s your problem? The documents were sent, I signed them and sent them back. Those can be done through a machine.]
Duterte also reminded critics that those who hail from the provinces like him “travel almost with regularity” back home for special occasions like All Souls’ Day.
“Kaya nga ako nauwi. Itong mga ugok naman, sinabi na wala ako. I was waiting for the typhoon to pass, then lumipad ako,” he said.
[This is why I came home. Then this stupid people say I’m absent. I was waiting for the typhoon to pass, then I flew.]
Duterte earlier Monday led an aerial survey over Catanduanes and Albay provinces, where Rolly made its first 2 landfalls.
