Philippines’ Duterte claims he ordered ambush, but palace said he ‘misspeaks’ Tagalog
- The president said ‘I ambushed you, you animal’ to former Daanbantayan mayor Vicente Loot, who escaped death after an attack last year but the palace issued a denial the next day
- Duterte also renewed his offer of big bounties for the return of convicts let loose in a corrections bureau blunder
Speaking at the oath-taking of a newly appointed government official at Malacanang Palace on Tuesday night, Duterte expressed anger that Vicente Loot – the former mayor of Daanbantayan, and a retired police general – had escaped death when he was ambushed at a port in Cebu last May. Four others were injured in the attack.
“General Loot, you son of a w***e, you even won as mayor. I ambushed you, you animal, you’re still alive,” Duterte said.
Let us be clear and categorical: the president did not order the ambush of General Loot
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo denied Duterte’s statement, saying he “misspeaks” Tagalog, which is not his native tongue – and often speaks in a mixture of English, Tagalog, and Bisaya, his local dialect.
“What the president intended to say was you were ambushed and yet you are still alive. Let us be clear and categorical: the president did not order the ambush of General Loot,” Panelo told reporters.