During the campaign, Duterte became so controversial, primarily due to the image he himself projected with his own admission to speaking "the gutter language". But despite this, supporters loved him -- they would wait for many hours in campaign sorties to hear him speak. They didn't care what would come out of his mouth. The important thing was they knew his track record of governance -- his conversion of Davao, once dubbled "the murder capital of the Philippine ", to a very peaceful and progressive city which has earned the love of the masses.
He is called by strong names -- among them, "Duterte Harry", with obvious reference to the Clint Eastwood-character, trigger-happy police inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan. The influential Time magazine, even dubs him 'The Punisher" .
To detractors, Duterte is an evil person and a fake leader, but to throngs of almost 20 million followers -- and supporters, he is the messiah, the one who can save the Philippines, particularly from political and social quagmires. And diehard fans are even proud to be labelled "Dutertard", a play of the word "retarded", a person who passionately supports Duterte for his call to social changes.
Source: Facebook
And before he pursues his plans to expand to the whole Philippines what he has done to Davao, he will be famously remembered for the colourful language he has thrown during the campaign and immediately after the elections.
Here are the top ten:
1. "I am not running "
"I told you before and I am saying it again now - I am not running."
This was the usual vacillating reply of Duterte that confused many, even his political allies. He changed his positions many times, intentionally or not, to make controversy -- and more; only he or his close confidants can answer now.
Source: Asia CEO Forum, Abs-Cbn
2. "Change is Coming"
Not really from his mouth, but more of a copy from "President Barack Obama's Change is Coming to America," this battle cry has been used throughout the campaign period.
For many, only Duterte can eventuate the "Change".
Source: AAP
The social media were flooded with jokes around the theme "change is coming".
Consider these:
Source: Facebook
Yes, after the elections, "Exact change is even coming" as he urged the taxi drivers to give exact change to passengers, or else.
Source: GMA News
3. "Dapat Mayor muna ang una"
The statement that put him in hot water -- at odds with the two of the ambassadors of the close allies of the Philippines -- Australia and the US.
The comments irritated Australia's ambassador, Amanda Gorely who tweetted this unusual comment:
Source: Twitter
It was seen as domestic interference. Duterte responded by saying: "Stay out, Australian government, stay out".
Later, Gorely's tweet was supported by US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg.
Goldberg said, as reported by the Manila Time "I can only agree with the colleague from the Australian Embassy," Goldberg said this in an interview aired by CNN Philippines.
4. Mga P.....I kayo and many other cuss words
" P.I. mo Pope, Umuwi ka na? "
During the formal declaration of Duterte as the presidential candidate of PDP-Laban on 30 November, he uttered this expletive against the powerful and charismatic leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis.
But as soon as it earned the ire of many voters of the mainly Catholic country, Duterte was quick enough to ask for an apology , saying it was "slip of the tongue" and explained that he was not cursing the Pope but the heavy traffic that spoiled his appointment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ITZmuwCKFk
Later on, Duterte's camp showed the public a written statement from the Vatican saying the Pope had aceepted his apology.
Source: Sunstar/Christine Joice Cudis
Nonetheless, cuss words and invectives became common sounds during his campaign -- and no one was spared from his spiteful tongue.
Early on during the campaign, Duterte vowed that he would give a thousand pesos to Caritas Davao every time he would say a cuss word? Will he fulfill his promise? How much will the Catholic Church receive?
Source: Facebook
5. "I will kill you, papatayin ko ka kayo"
Worse than the cuss words, Duterte's violent words stroke the criminals the most -- rapists, drug lord, corrupt whom he vowed he would get rid off.
Duterte promised once elected, he would kill 100,000 criminals, boasting that so many dead bodies would be dumped in Manila Bay that "the fish will grow fat'.
Will he fulfill this promise? Now that he is elected, many supporters hope he would not.
6. She's a drama queen.
After hearing the rape story of his own daughter Sara, vice-Mayor of Davao, who publicly admitted that she was raped, Duterte described her as "drama queen".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCmjmkf-rr8
"She" refers to Sara. Duterte explained "She can't be raped" because she carries a gun.
7. Bayot sila
In the heat of the campaign, Liberal Party Presidential candidate Mar Roxas accused Duterte of false promises of getting rid of ciminality in the first six months of the presidential term.
Duterte minces no words of accusing Roxas a "bayot". Bayot means "gay" in Cebuano, and although the term is already widely used in the Visayan-speaking regions, it has yet to gain popularity across the country.
Expect "Bayot" to mean soft, wishy-washy in the vernacular language soon.
8. "Happy-happy"
In the last stages of the campaigns when Duterte was becoming more popular than ever, other candidates were so desperate to pull him down that even independent vice-presidential candidate Antonio Trillanes III, who was supporting the candidacy of Grace Poe, complete with documents, accused Duterte of accepting bribes and donations in the past.
Duterte readily and jokingly accepted the accusations saying he had spent all the money for "happy-happy".
Now the term is very common in greetings, "happy, happy birthday to you"
9. Matulog ka na Lang
In a rally in Iloilo, Noynoy Aquino likens Duterte to a "dictator". The following night Duterte retorted to Aquino: "Matulog ka na lang tutal patapos ka na".
Source: Interaksyon
Source: Flickr
