PRESIDENTIAL candidate Rodrigo Duterte said in a speech to the Rotary Club of Manila last Jan. 14 he was once charged with acts of lasciviousness. But in the first presidential debate in Cagayan de Oro on Feb. 21, he denied such cases.
A video of Duterte’s speech to the Rotarians was uploaded to YouTube by “Duterte Movement.”
Duterte: “In fact, I was also charged with acts of lasciviousness. But you know the woman was really very, very beautiful that if you do not touch her, you will die. I was just saving my life (10:32-10:47).”
Following is the exchange between host Mike Enriquez and Duterte on the supposed case contained in the video clip (28:57-29:07) of the first presidential debate in Cagayan de Oro uploaded by Inquirer.net:
Mike Enriquez: Opo, yung inyong kasong acts of lasciviousness sa mga kababaihan, Mayor?
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte: Wala akong kaso na ganun.
Mike Enriquez: Girlfriend?
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte: I do not know who invented it but I said, meron lang akong inakbayan noon.
A news article published by GMA Network quoted Duterte as saying a case was once filed against him but didn’t push through. “Duterte explained that the complaint stemmed from pinching the arm of the woman. He said the cases didn’t prosper,” the news account said.
Duterte’s statements in the speech to the Rotary Club and in the historic debate are obviously inconsistent.
–Laine Bringuelo and Maegan Gaspar
(The contributors are University of the Philippines journalism majors who are fact-checking candidates for their Journalism Ethics [J110] course taught by VERA Files trustee Yvonne T. Chua.)
