No, the jet ski boast was not a joke. It was a lie.
Joke is defined by Merriam-Webster as something said or done to provoke laughter while a lie is an untrue statement made with the intention to deceive.
It was a lie, planned with his campaign staff, which he used in almost all of his 2016 campaign rallies, complete with flag-kissing. There was the INTENTION to deceive.
And indeed, 16.6 million were deceived. And Rodrigo Duterte became the 16th president of the Republic of the Philippines.
It was another lie, on top of a lie, when he said it was a joke, when asked to account for his campaign promises. He kept on repeating that lie, the latest of which was last May 10 when, during his weekly televised talk, he said that those who believed his ”joke“ were stupid.
Talk about adding insult to injury.
In his own words:
“Panahon sa kampa — panahon sa kampanya ‘yan. At saka ‘yong biro na ‘yon, ‘yong delabra — we call it “bravado,” ‘yong bravado ko that was just a pure campaign joke.
“At kung naniniwala kayo sa kabila, pati na siguro si Carpio pati si — I would say that you are really stupid. Sige, maghanap ka ng tao dito magpunta ng jet ski. Hindi pa mag-abot pa ng ilang oras I would conk out in the middle of the sea … ýung naniniwala kayo niyan, I really do not know if you — if you harp on that, it’s — it’s a pure … I was not taking lightly the sovereignty but it was a pure joke actually, but just to emphasize na talagang hinaluan ko lang ng biro.
“Isipin ninyo kung paano maging totoo ‘yan, matutunaw ‘yong utak ninyo. Maniwala sa jet ski p**…’”
“That was during a campaign. And that joke was, in other words, — we call it bravado, that bravado was just a pure campaign joke.
And if you believe on the other side, maybe including Carpio and … I would say that you are really stupid. Go, look for someone who would go with a jet ski. Even before a few hours later I would conk out in the middle of the sea … those who believe that, I really do not know if you — if you harp on that, it’s — it’s just a pure — I was not taking lightly the sovereignty but it was a pure joke actually, but just to emphasize that, I injected humor into it.
Think how it can be true, your brains will melt. Believe in jet ski …p**…”
By constantly repeating the jet ski lie as a joke, Duterte has come to believe it. Stupid is he who believes his own lie.
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.
