Duterte takes time out to be with kids
DAVAO CITY – Be good and not give your parents any problem. This was among the pieces of advice that President Rodrigo Roa Duterte gave his youngest audience so far – pre-school children of the Center for Brighter Beginnings Inc. (CBB), a pioneer center here that specializes in Early Childhood Education.
Indeed, it had been unfamiliar territory for the feisty, tough-talking President as he carefully picked his words in explaining his job to the children.
"Alam mo anak, alam mo bakit minsan nakikita ninyo ako nagagalit sa TV? Kasi yung mga bad people, ayaw ko sila dito sa mundong ito. Kaya gusto ko silang mawala para wala ng gugulo sa buhay ninyo (You know my child, you know why you see me angry on TV? Because of the bad people, I don't like them here in this world. So I want them gone so that no one will make trouble)," the President said.
He also told them about his dream that when they will have a peaceful place to live in.
"At pag lumaki na kayo kagaya ng mama mo pati papa, ang buhay ninyo ay hindi masyadong problem. Walang gulo, walang mag-snatch, walang magkidnap (And when you grow up like your mama and your papa, you will not be in trouble, no more snatching, no one will kidnap)," he said.
The 72-year-old grandfather also said he only wanted a world for good people.
"Yung hindi matino eh magkakaroon tayo ng problema dyan. Magagalit talaga ako (Those who are not good we will have problem with that)," he said.
Duterte likewise explained to the pre-schoolers why he has been called a “bad boy,” or that he has been accused of hurting people and even sending some of them “to heaven.”
"Sabi ng iba, bad boy daw ako kasi sinasaktan ko daw yung mga taong masama at minsan sabi nila, pinapadala ko sila sa heaven, mauna na sila sa atin kaya ganun (Some people say I am a bad boy because I hurt bad people and they said I send them to heaven, so they go ahead of us)," he said.
Taking notice of a girl who was biting her nails, Duterte admitted that he had the same habit whenever he was in deep thought.
Duterte, however, said that as a government servant, his work was to protect the people and the country to preserve its sovereignty.
"Yung nakita ninyo (What you are seeing), everything is working, functional at walang problema (no problem)," he said.
Turning his attention to the parents present, the President said that what he had told the children was about the "compassion that I've learned in the years that I have been in service in the government".
Duterte said his vow of protecting the people and the country remains the same as when he was the mayor of the city.
"Ganun din ang sinabi ko (That is also what I said). Do not destroy my country and do not destroy our only assets in this planet, our children," he stressed. (With a PNA report)