‘RPI’

“Buwisit,” meaning exasperated, may be the word to use describing President Duterte’s feelings toward a media reporter (“Buwisit,” Editorial, 2/23/18). But I think “mapangahas,” meaning outrageous, more appropriately describes the way he regularly targets anyone in the news media who questions his motives and actions.

Malacañang spinmeister Harry Roque, famous for bending over backwards for his boss, illustrates that he’s the ultimate lapdog whenever he rushes to interpret Mr. Duterte’s words.

I well recall that infamous news conference in Davao some years ago when an Inquirer reporter asked Mr. Duterte about the state of his health and ended up being excoriated by the President who demanded to know the state of the reporter’s wife’s venereal disease. A Cebuano speaker, I felt totally nauseated by that outrageous and disgusting reply.

The world knows it’s normal for leaders of civilized nations to reveal their individual health records. For our citizens to accept and laugh over the President’s habitually vulgar outpourings, as his fans have been doing, is not just unacceptable but shameful.

No wonder many folks no longer call this country RP (Republic of the Philippines) but RPI (Republic of Putang Ina).

ISABEL ESCODA, Cebu City