MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte admitted on Monday that his 2016 pledge to ride a jet ski to the Spratly Islands and plant a Philippine flag there was a “pure campaign joke,” calling those who believed him “stupid.”
“Panahon ‘yan sa kampanya ‘yan. At saka ‘yung biro na ‘yun, ‘yung bravado ko, it was a pure campaign joke at kung naniniwala kayo sa kabila, I would say you are really stupid,” he said in his regular public address on Monday.
(It was during election season. And then there was that joke, my bravado, which was purely political in nature, and if you believe it, I must say you are really stupid.)
He said he had planned to go through with his promise…
Keep on reading: Duterte admits jet ski promise a campaign stunt: You’re stupid if you believed it