Does the persona non grata tag need to be officially lifted or is this friendly development enough to consider it null and void?
READ: It’s official: Ramon Bautista persona non grata in Davao
“Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has already made peace with Ramon Bautista, a week after the comedian was declared persona non grata in a resolution by the city council,” reports Jaemark Tordecilla on GMA News Online.
How did this happen?
The report noted: “It started when RockEd founder Gang Badoy, a friend of Bautista’s, had a quick meeting with Duterte at the Davao City airport. After informing him of RockEd’s project to build a park in Davao del Sur from recycled materials, Badoy broached the subject of Bautista with the mayor, telling him, ‘If you met under different circumstances, you’ll really enjoy his company.'”
Duterte reportedly replied jokingly, “Parang OK naman talaga siya, mahirap yung ginawa niya, mahirap mag-sorry. Ako nga, sa girls lang ako nag-so-sorry (He seems OK, what he did was difficult, it’s hard to say sorry. Take me, for instance, I only say sorry to girls).”
Sometime after that, Badoy called up Bautista to tell him what had happened. Duterte then asked Badoy if it was Bautista on the line.
Bautista and Duterte then had a conversation on speakerphone. They apparently sorted things out.
Badoy revealed that Duterte had later remarked, “Padadalhan ko si Ramon ng kilo-kilong hipon (I’ll send several kilos of shrimp to Ramon).”
The GMA News Online report explained: “(Duterte’s comment) was in reference to the joke that Bautista had made during the Kadayawan Festival calling the women of Davao City ‘hipon,’ the Filipino word for shrimp which is also a pejorative term for people with attractive bodies but ugly faces, which got the comedian in trouble in the first place.”
Bautista later posted an Instagram photo of Duterte writing him a note and the note itself, which was sent through Badoy.
The note has this message: “Mabuhay ka!”
Screengrab from Ramon Bautista’s Instagram page
