“You should never try to change me/ I can be nobody else/And I like the way I am/What you see is what you get/This is me, hey you/If you want me, don’t forget/You should take me as I am”— excerpts from a song by Britney Spears
MOST often than not, he ignores reading his prepared speech and instead goes all out doing impromptu to the delight of the many, a weirdo thing of the few.
He maybe boring on one side, yet his packed audience seems to enjoy his story telling to the max. And last Sunday’s PDP Laban grand rally at USTP was another event for him to lash out his political critics – erring priests, drug addicts, corrupt people in government and even the yellow media for that matter.
And by the way, no one from among the local bets, not even from the Moreno camp was personally endorsed by the President.
His natural comic flair makes him alive and kicking. He throws antics and ad libs even in the most formal setting like no other.
President Duterte cracks jokes in between serious functions and meetings, his only weapon perhaps to brighten up his day in finding solutions to the nation’s titanic woes — verily not for the fainthearted.
Duterte’s jokes and ad libs may sound irritating and outmoded but these are his ways perhaps of fighting stress and pressures attached to his herculian job — the presidency.
Duterte has his way of entertaining himself amid the many animosities of the day. He lightens the day by himself — from serious to funny, shepherding the discussions with his profound thought process and candid inputs.
If God has a sense of humor, Duterte had his way too of making people laugh in the midst of a national crisis –– serious at one moment and funny the next.
His critics presumably find his jokes nasty albeit obscene and sometimes scandalous, yet ordinary people love to hear those ad libs, very original, candid and outspoken as it were.
During the election campaign, Duterte even joked he will jetski to the South China Sea to plant the Philippine flag there. The folowing day, a national broadsheet carried an editorial cartoon showing Duterte jetskiing on the waters of the disputed islands in the South China Sea!
This Duterte joke drew mixed reactions from netizens, and perhaps one of the ad libs that catapulted Duterte to Malacanang.
His knack on ad libs gave him the edge over his political opponents, even outpacing the late and charismatic Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
The President’s sense of humor appears to serve as his weapon to stay on course in the fight against illegal drugs, corruption in government, terrorism and restoration of the law and order.
He pokes fun at himself as well. During his visit at a military camp in Davao, the President flaunted he has two wives occupying his left and another on the right.
At one time, the President made the ire on the national press by his sharp side comments on media killings that eventually killed his ‘honeymoon’ with the Manila media.
With all its enigmatic outcomes, his humor is seen to buoy up the presidency — uncover more scandals, corruption and ineptitude of people in government.
With all his toughness, Duterte has a soft heart for women. His charisma oozing with that manly appeal only a few of his age could still make a mark of adulation from his legion of female supporters, young and old alike.
Even his number one nemesis, detained Sen. Leila de Lima had good some words on him. Acting like a true gentleman, Duterte offered a hand to De Lima but not without returning a childish, skimpy grin. His body language says it all.
With his trademark rolled up barong sleeves, he shows a lot about him being the man of action – the working President look!
Duterte may go down in history not only as the tough-talking President but as a leader who rises above it all by cracking jokes and throwing ad libs the unorthodox way, and at the same time finding solutions to the worries of the State.
What we have in Duterte is a leader completey different from the average Filipino politician.
With mega problems whacking the country, a Duterte humor is indeed needed to lighten up his day. Now, if Duterte’s humor is fake news, so be it.
