Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is a tough guy and is known to go hard on criminals, but believe it or not he won’t dare get near flowers.
Duterte revealed this after he started coughing in the middle of a speech at the Heroes Hall ng San Fernando City in Pampanga.
“Galing kasi ako sa wreath laying. Allergic ako sa bulaklak. Akala naman talagang sad ako pero I was saddened. Problem is I cannot tolerate flowers,” Duterte said.
Before going to Pampanga, Duterte led the wreath-laying at the Libingan ng mga Bayani sa Taguig City in celebration of National Heroes day.
Trying to be humorous as he started coughing, Duterte said somebody might have thought ill of him. In Filipino folklore, it is believed that when somebody thinks of you, you would cough.
“May nagmumura sa akin sa labas. Hindi na ito ‘yung…‘Pag ka ganon may nagba-backfight sa’yo ‘yan eh. Wala naman ako kalaban dito sa Pampanga. Nanalo nga ako,” Duterte said.
Even going morbid, Duterte asked the crowd not to bring bunches of flowers in his own funeral.
“Pati sa burol ko, huwag kayong magpadala ng bulaklak, baka mag-ubo ako ng mag-ubo diyan sa ilalim ng kabaong. Ako lang ang makikita nyong patay na ubo ng ubo,” he kidded.
Duterte’s health has been in question once when he took a week break during the Marawi crisis and when newspapers published reports that he was on the painkiller drug Fentanyl.
Here’s GMA News’ video of Duterte’s speech at Heroes Hall in Pampanga:
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