President Rodrigo Duterte has unleashed some spicy comments about Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon this week—twice!—spending so much time on the topic that we can’t help but wonder about the president’s apparent obsession with Dick.
This week’s rants were a reaction to the Senate blue ribbon committee’s probe into the Department of Budget and Management Procurement Service’s (DBM-PS) purchase of overpriced pandemic supplies, which implicated Duterte’s longtime aide-turned-senator Bong Go. This angered the president enough so that Gordon, who chairs the committee, became the subject of a full twenty-minute tirade on Thursday night, which was apparently the continuation of the Tuesday morning rant.
Read: Duterte goes after Sen Gordon, mistakenly identifies the PH Red Cross as a govt agency
But this isn’t the first time Duterte has spent his day with a mouth full of Dick. In 2019, Duterte prefaced a speech in front of firemen with a long rant against Gordon, who then had just criticized Duterte for stacking his Cabinet with former military officials.
Revisiting the president’s recent and not-so-recent speeches tagging Senator Gordon showed us how consistently Duterte’s insults have been leveled against the senator. Coconuts sat through the president’s past speeches to bring you the highlights:
28th anniversary ceremonies for the Bureau of Fire Protection, August 1,2019
- “Pero kung ako ang Presidente at pupunta ako ng Maynila, mag-trabaho dito, maghanap ako ng tao, kung si Gordon lang naman ang makita ko, magresign na lang ako pagka-Presidente. The smart-ass.” (Translation: “If I were president, and I went to Manila to work, and I’d look for people, and Gordon is the only person I see, I’d just resign from being president. The smart ass.”
- “Pero at least, probinsyano ako, my brain stays in my head. ‘Yung utak mo Dick, nagtutunaw, napupunta diyan sa tiyan mo.”
(Translation: “I may be provincial, but my brain stays in my head. Your brain, Dick, is melting, going to your stomach.”) - “You are a fart away from disaster.”
- “Intindihin mo muna ‘yung tiyan mo bago ka makialam sa trabaho ko.”
(Translation: “Mind your stomach before you meddle with my work.”) - “Eh tumakbo ka ng vice president, hindi ka naman manalo. Hanggang senador ka lang.” (Translation: “Well, you ran for the vice presidency, but you didn’t win. You’re just a senator.”)
- “Kung gusto mo talagang mag-bise presidente, if you want the title vice president, this is my advice to you. Hindi ka talaga mag-bise presidente kailanman.”
(“If you want to be vice president, this is my advice to you: You’ll never be vice president.”) - “Now, if you want that title badly, what you should do is you create a private corporation, make your family the incorporators of that corporation then mag-appoint ka ng president, a member of your family as president of the corporation, then find a way that you will be seated as the vice president of that corporation.”
- “Sino bang fireman doon sa Olongapo? Suntukin mo nga ‘yang gagong ‘yan. Pakialamero.” (Translation: “Who here is a fireman in Olongapo? Punch that idiot. Meddler.”)
- “The only way that he is—you know he talks, he talks fast. And he talks…*mockingly imitates Gordon*Dinadala niya sa usapang… Gago ka, hindi ka naman talaga Pilipino. Tisoy ka lang diyan.”
(Translation: “You idiot, you’re not a real Filipino. You’re just ’tisoy’.”) - “Sabi ko, take care of your stomach. It’s ugly. Isang utot ka lang tingnan mo. You are just a fart, a heartbeat away from…‘yang laki mo niyan. ‘Yan ang katawan na mahirap—hindi pwede ambulansya. Karga ninyo doon sa truck ninyo. Pakialamero.“
(Translation: “I said, take care of your stomach. It’s ugly. You’re just a fart, you see. You are just a fart, a heartbeat away from…you’re big. That’s the body that’s hard to…you can’t use an ambuance. Use your trucks. Meddler.”) - “Mabuti kung may away diyan ngayon sa Negros. Matawag ko ba si Senator Dick Gordon? Magpunta doon? Mag-turo-turo, mag-English: ‘Oh this part, the part of this one is so modern, is so…'”
(Translation: “If there were a conflict in Negros, would I be able to call on Senator Dick Gordon? To go there? [He’ll just] point at things, speak in English, ‘Oh this part, that part of this one is so modern…'” - “Siya lang nakakaintindi. Kinakain niya salita niya eh. Kaya magsalita siya may mga military. ‘Sir, anong sinabi noon sir?’ ‘Ay ang putangina wala pakialam ‘yang gagong ‘yan. Ni hindi…wala nga akong naintindihan, abogado ako, kayo pa.”
(“He’s the only one who understands what he says. He eats his words. So when he speaks, there are military who ask, ‘Sir, what is he saying?’ Well, that sonofabitch doesn’t care. I don’t understand, and I’m a lawyer. You have no chance.”) - “Para kang penguin maglakad.”(Translation: “You walk like a penguin”)
Read: Duterte calls Senator Gordon ‘smart ass,’ says he’s ‘a fart away from disaster’
Talk to the People address, aired on August 31, 2021
- “Ang hinihingi ko sa taong-bayan ‘yung lahat na senador—ito kung pagbigyan lang ninyo ako—‘yung lahat ng senador tumatakbo talunin ninyo. Huwag ninyong ibalik sa Senado kasi magdaldal nang magdaldal na rin ‘yan at mag-show off, parang magyabang. Marami ‘yan, lalo na itong si Gordon.”
(“What I ask of my countrymen is that all the senators—if you indulge me—defeat all the senators who are running. Don’t put them back in the Senate because they’ll just talk and show off. Many of them, especially Gordon.”)
- “Makita mo si Gordon sa mga TV pagka-committee hearing niya makita mo maraming mga congressman ‘pag roll call. Pero dahan-dahan ‘yan mawala kasi si Gordon ang champion noon nanalo sa — ilang taon ba, anong taon ba ‘yon?—siya ang nanalo sa “talkathon.” Champion. Lahat puro daldal. Kanya ang tanong, kanya ‘yung sagot, at siya magsabi kung mali ka o hindi. Anak ng…”
(Translation: “You see Gordon, when there are committee hearings, there are many congressmen during roll call. But they’ll slowly disappear because Gordon is the champion—how many years running?—he’s the winner of the talkathon. Champion. All talk. He asks, he answers, and he’ll tell you if you’re right or wrong. Son of a…”) - “Ganyan si Gordon. Gordon is Gordon. Hindi ‘yan si Gordon for the Filipino people. Maniwala ka diyan, puro English lang ‘yan…At ang malaman lang sabihin Gordon magsalita, magsalita ‘yan. Tingnan mo ngayong eleksyon, bigyan ‘yan sila 30 minutes, magsalita ng isang oras ‘yan. Ganoon ‘yan, talkathon nga.”
(Translation: “That’s how Gordon is. Gordon is Gordon. That’s not Gordon for the Filipino people. Believe me, it’s all just English. All Gordon knows is to talk, talk. Look, during the elections, give him 30 minutes, he’ll talk for an hour. It’s like that, a talkathon.” - “Wala namang kahalagahan ‘yung mga questions lalo na si Gordon. ‘Pagka si Gordon na ang magtanong, mawala ‘yung mga tao pati ‘yung mga senador katabi niya.”
Translation: “There’s no value to the questions, especially if it’s Gordon. When it’s Gordon who’s asking, the people disappear, even those next to him.” - “I’m sure Gordon realizes or have realized it a very long time ago that he has that nasty practice of depriving others of asking questions. But, you know, the guy simply wants to talk and show off to the world that he is a bright boy.”
- “Pero iba ka ‘adre. Ang advice ko sa iyo magpapayat ka muna para medyo… Nalilipong ako ‘pag tinitingnan kita. Putangina. Huwag mong putulin ‘yan ha. Totoo ‘yan. Pati ‘yung buhok mo ngayon iba na ang hinapay.”
(“Translation: “But you’re really different. My advice to you is for you to lose weight, so that you’re…I get dizzy looking at you. Sonofabitch. Don’t cut this out. It’s true. Even your hair is styled differently.”) - “He is afflicted with Sinophobia. Galit ‘yan sa Intsik. Ewan ko, Amerikano kasi eh.” (Translation: “He’s angry at Chinese. I don’t know, [maybe it’s because] he’s American.”)
- “Itong si Gordon, ito hindi magpalugi ‘yan.” (Translation: “Gordon, he won’t let himself lose.”)
- “Iyang Gordon na ‘yan alisin na ninyo ‘yan sa ano, pa—hindi naman…Pahinga ka na lang at magturo ka na lang ng voice and diction, pati grammar, pati how to talk and not be understood at all.”
(Translation: “That Gordon, remove him…Just take a break and teach voice and diction, and grammar, and how to talk and not be understood at all.”) - “Itong si Senator Gordon, adre, paki-flag na lahat at imbestigahan mo. Tingnan natin kung may panahon ka pa mag-exercise. My advice to you is to reduce your… Ako ang nabibigatan—biga—nabibigatan sa iyong magtingin ako.” (Translation: “Senator Gordon, please flag everything and investigate it. Let’s see if you have time to exercise. My advice to you is to reduce your…I look at you and find you heavy.”
- “Eh ‘di probinsiyano ako, wala akong kilala. Kilala kita, pero wala akong kilala. So sinong kunin ko? Eh ‘di ‘yung mga tao galing sa probinsiya ko. Lokoloko ka pala eh…Gusto mo ‘pag upo ko sa opisina ko mag-appoint ako lahat taga Olongapo? At magtino ka nga Gordon.”
(Translation: “I’m from the province, I don’t know anyone [you said]. I know you, but I don’t know anyone. So who do I get? Of course the people from my province. You’re crazy…Did you expect me to get into office and then appoint everyone from Olongapo? Get it together, Gordon.” - “You ask questions and you also answer. You would not even let the person answer kasi ikaw talkative.”
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