Rody: Only 2 in my 5 statements are true

His spokespersons claim that he is often misinterpreted, but President Duterte himself admitted yesterday that only two in every five of his statements are true while the rest are mere wisecracks.

“Eh sa limang salita, dalawa lang ‘yung tama niyan, ‘yung

tatlo puro kalokohan ‘yan (For every five statements I make, only two are true while three are just jokes),” the President said during the 115th anniversary celebration of the Bureau of Customs in Manila on Wednesday. “I’m just fond of doing it.

Gusto ko lang tumawa (I just want to laugh). Well, at the expense also of myself sometimes,” he added.

Duterte cited his joke about talking to God, which was picked up by both local and international media.

Listen to press briefing

So how do you know whether President Duterte is serious or just making a wisecrack?

For presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella, the solution is simple: tune in to the press briefings of his officials.

“Listen to the press conferences,” Abella said yesterday when asked how the media can determine which among the President’s statements are true.

“What we do emphasize in the press conferences are vetted and properly vetted – I’m not saying it’s not properly vetted, I’m saying, simply saying that at this stage when we say it, it simply means to say we have gone through the process of discerning whether it was a joke or not,” he added.

Abella claimed Duterte is “very serious” and “is very consistent” with his statements.

“But when there’s a particular statement that needs to be, for example, if it tends to be policy, it would be underlined here. It would be underlined during the press conferences,” he added.

When reminded that some of Duterte’s statements do not agree with that of his spokespersons, Abella replied: “Okay. Let’s not play each other off. Let’s be fair, let’s be objective. We will try as much as possible to be able to give you that which is objectively verified,” he added.

After his trip to Japan in October, the President claimed that God told him to stop cursing or his plane would crash.

“They said that, ‘You know Duterte is a little bit off his rocker because he claims to have talked to God.’ Well, that is not really a problem. The problem would be if God starts talking to me,” he said.

Duterte lamented that members of the media “are not really attuned to his character.”

The President stirred controversies for his provocative statements, many of which were later dismissed as jokes by his officials.

Duterte’s spokespersons accused media of taking some of his statements out of context and suggested that they talk to Davao- based journalists so they can understand him better.

In August, Duterte threatened to pull the Philippines out of the United Nations after the UN questioned his war on drugs. The President later claimed that he was just joking when he made the statement.

He also joked about throwing a kidnapper off a helicopter, driving a jet ski and planting a Philippine flag on a disputed area in the South China Sea and undergoing circumcision at a hospital in China.

Before assuming office, Duterte advised journalists not to take his statements seriously if they are ridiculous or outlandish.

The President has not gotten over the negative publicity he received during the election as he advised the public not to believe the media, which he claimed are distorting his statements.

“Huwag kayo masyado yung media media maniwala diyan (Don’t believe the media that much),” the President said during a housing summit in Quezon City.

“Sabi nga ni Trump, e dishonest (As Trump said, they are dishonest),” he added, referring to US President Donald Trump’s allegation against mainstream media.

Duterte recalled the reports about his supposed failure to declare P211 million in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, which came out a few weeks before the May 9 polls.

He said television stations like ABS-CBN carried the report, which he described as “trash.” “Nakita mo yung election?

Ano binuhos ng mga TV (You saw the elections? What did the TV carry)? ABS-CBN naniwala sila sa basura (believed in trash).”