A year has passed since President Rodrigo Duterte‘s ramblings in a national address concerning the government’s response to COVID-19 was turned into a creative poem.
Market surveillance analyst John Paul Tanyag, with Twitter handle @dumidyeypee, recently uploaded the poem that circulated on social media last year. It featured the president’s words which were arranged to look like a literary piece.
“This poetry started the lockdown misery,” he quipped on Wednesday.
this poetry started the lockdown misery pic.twitter.com/WhZW7PfbQM
— JP to the Moon 🌙 (@dumidyeypee) March 10, 2021
Titled “The Kit,” the poem was inspired by Duterte’s answer when he was asked if there were enough COVID-19 testing kits in the country should the cases increase that time.
He initially responded with specific answers but eventually went on with ramble on various topics including history. He mentioned the Bubonic Plague, the Spanish Flu, the Middle East, the Roman Empire and even witch hunts.
This prompted writer Mixkaela Villalon to arrange a poem out of the chief executive’s remarks. It was shared by personalities such as writer-faculty Rolando Tolentino and musician-broadcaster Lourd de Veyra.
RELATED: ‘The Kit’: Duterte’s ramblings at COVID-19 press conference are now creative poems
Then-presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo addressed the criticisms that Duterte had failed to assure the public the government was ready to contain the virus with his speech.
“That means they were not listening to the president. The president was very clear. We have the money, we have the protocols,” he said in a Palace press briefing.
Duterte is known for being spontaneous in his speeches and press conferences. He usually peppers his public addresses with profanity, personal anecdotes, jokes and misogynistic remarks.
