Actor and Duterte supporter Robin Padilla took via facebook his birthday message to the President. Duterte, who celebrated his 76th birthday on Sunday, March 28, flew to his hometown Davao City after he declared an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the parts of the National Capital Region (NCR).
Padilla idolized Duterte as he lauded the President for being a “simple” person.
“Never in the history of a sitting President nagkaroon tayo ng ganitong kasimple na Presidente,” wrote Padilla.
Paano hindi mamahalin at ipagtatanggol ng mga DDS na katulad ko si Mayor.
Mga mahal Kong kababayan Pilipino sa buong…Posted by Robin Padilla on Sunday, March 28, 2021
However, the celebration of Duterte was surrounded by controversies. Despite being dubbed as “simple”, there were numerous issues that needed answers to.
As part of the NCR Plus newest guideline with the recent ECQ, only essential travels are allowed as part of domestic flights.
In Duterte’s case, his return to Davao was only to celebrate his birthday. This was before the President puts NCR back on lockdown.
Furthermore, Senator Bong Go has claimed that Duterte celebrated his birthday in simplicity. Duterte blew a candle straight out of a cake made of rice. But debunking the photo of the birthday celebration, a video surfaced over the Internet, showing an actual cake and the food was in fact a feast.
Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on the same day when the President declared NCR Plus to be under ECQ, also claimed that Duterte will not celebrate his birthday. The Davao-raised President also stressed that he will self-isolate himself following the advice of doctors and the Presidential Security Group (PSG).
“PRRD (President Duterte) will again self-quarantine himself on his birthday following the advice of the Presidential Security Group as well as his doctors for his protection given that his presidential duties have exposed him to officials and other persons around him,” Panelo said in a statement.
But the video which leaked over the Internet showed that the President is not in self-isolation. In fact, he celebrated his birthday along with 15 other individuals.
Duterte was also caught trying to grope his housemaid’s private parts in the video. This resulted in a backlash as the public was outraged by the President’s perverseness.
Duterte’s Presidential Spokesperson has defended his action. In a statement released by Harry Roque, he defended Duterte by explaining that there was no malice in the attempt of the President to grope the woman’s privates.
“‘Yung sinasabi mong panghihipo, eh matagal na niyang kasambahay yun eh. Alam mo naman talagang palabiro ang ating Presidente, pero wala pong malisya ‘yun dahil nakaharap naman po doon si Ma’am Honeylet,” explained Roque.
