Duterte admits marijuana use, says he was joking

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his speech after leading the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Panguil Bay Bridge in Tubod, Lanao del Norte on November 28, 2018. ACE MORANDANTE/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

The President known for his controversial statements that sometimes fell as an unpopular opinion or a joke, talked about himself using marijuana to stay awake through his busy schedule.

“It’s a killing activity and I think the – [at] my age, ako hindi masyado kasi nagma-marijuana ako eh para magising. Sa iba, hindi na kaya (for me, not so much because I use marijuana to stay awake. Others, it does not work),” President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said on Monday, December 3 during his speech for the ASEAN (Associational of Southeast Asian Nations) National Organizing Committee awarding ceremony.

Duterte’s statement stemmed from his complaints on his hectic schedule during the ASEAN Summit in Singapore, to which he shared that they start at 8:30 in the morning, and end at almost 10 or 11. He said that meetings of country heads should only be for “urgent and immediate concerns,” when major events in the summit happened “every 30 minutes.”

“Baka akala ng ASEAN Secretariat, Boy Scout kami. Hindi kaya iyan, it’s whole day. Hindi kaya (Maybe the ASEAN Secretariat thinks we are Boy Scouts. It is not possible, it’s whole day.

Not possible),” the President earlier said before talking about his supposed use of the illegal substance.

In several interviews, he has also said that he is open to the use of medical marijuana.

Duterte, the architect of the government’s war to eradicate illegal drugs continued on, “Susmaryosep, walang tulog (no sleep at all). And the more that the crescendo becomes faster, mas lalo kang ‘di nakakatulog kasi hinahabol ko na babasahin eh (you really cannot sleep so you can keep up with the reading).”

He added that he did not want the people to think that he, the President, is ignorant so he had to catch up with the reading.

Before this barrage of complaints, Duterte made headlines during the ASEAN Summit in Singapore for missing several meetings, which included the breakfast meeting 6, made light of his absence in a breakfast meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the gala dinner of the gathering. According to Malacañang, the Chief Executive’s absences were due to the “power naps” he had to take,

These missed meetings earned the ire of critics, slamming Duterte ‘to do his job’ and ‘share his health condition.’

Just joking

After several media posted Duterte’s ‘marijuana use,’ the President was quick to say that it was a joke.

In an interview with the reporters, he said that he was using a “plastic marijuana.”

“Of course, I was joking,” Duterte said, further defending himself that jokes, including mysoginistic ones are his “style.”

He added, “That’s my style, it’s too late to change. I want to joke, I will joke. Ngayon kung maniwala kayo, g*go kayo (Now if you believe what I said, you are stupid).”

Amidst these developments, Presidential Communications Operations Office’s (PCOO)’s live video which showed Duterte’s speech was taken down from the website and the Facebook page.