Despite all the questionable things President Rodrigo Duterte has said and done (and there are definitely a lot), the chief executive still has legions of Filipino fans. One of them, a 24-year-old stay-at-home mother, even got Duterte’s face tattooed on her forearm just to express her admiration.
Honeylet Sauva showed off her Duterte tattoo in a now-viral Facebook post that appeared on Tuesday, where she wrote, “I am not [a] fan of any politician but this one caught my attention! Sad to say if it weren’t for COVID-19 and his bashers I will not see or learn how he is really like as a president of our country.”
Sauva attached photos of her showing off the tat, which was heavily drawn in black, red, and green ink. Most netizens found the tattoo hilarious, judging by the 14,000 laughing emojis which Sauva’s post attracted.
“Salute to our President Rodrigo Duterte! Thank you for your love of country and of my fellow Filipinos who remain obstinate,” she said in her post, which has been shared almost 7,000 times since it appeared.
Just to be clear: Duterte publicly downplayed the impact of COVID-19, saying that Filipinos were being unreasonably “hysterical” after getting worked up when several cases appeared in February. He even said everything was “well” in the country, and joked that he was going to “slap” the virus. However, he sang a different tune this month and claimed that he warned Filipinos of the dangers of COVID-19, which has killed almost 400 people in the Philippines.
Read: Duterte on the lookout for that ‘f**king coronavirus,’ vows to ‘slap the idiot’
In an interview with Coconuts Manila via Facebook Messenger, Sauva said that the permanent tattoo cost her PHP4,000 (US$79), and took about two hours to finish. This isn’t her first time at the rodeo— it’s her sixth body ink. The design was created by her husband’s friend, an artist named Avel Salen.
“It was [on] April 9 when I saw the design on [my] husband’s FB wall and I was so amazed at the blending and color. At the same time, I really admire PRRD (Duterte) so much so I decided to have it tattooed. It was on April 14 when I finally had the guts to do it. I wanted to use numbing cream but there was nothing available so I just pushed with it,” she said in English and Filipino.
Sauva said she is OK with people laughing at her Facebook post, but she didn’t appreciate being called names by complete strangers.
“It’s offensive that they would share [my post] and write in their caption that I’m ‘dumb’ [or] ‘crass,'” she said.
Sauva will not get another Duterte tattoo, but she will continue to support the president.
“Despite his age [he is still working] when he should just be resting and now it’s so stressful and depressing which is not good for his health. And sometimes I get tearful because there are so many [critics] who are one-sided,” she said.
Would you ever get a Duterte tattoo? Tell us by leaving a comment below or tweeting to @CoconutsManila.
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