A young student from the City of Pines reportedly wrote a letter addressed to President Rodrigo Duterte discussing the latter’s use of profanities, especially on national television.
On Tuesday, weekly local newspaper The Baguio Chronicle shared a photo of the student’s letter which was a “requirement” for school.
“He was asked to write a letter to our dear President. Here’s his letter to him. Our children are also aware of how a good leader should lead a country. God bless the Philippines,” the child’s mother was quoted as saying.
The letter, which was written by the student named Skye on April 9, reads:
Dear President Duterte,
At home, we are told to respect one another. There are words that we are not allowed to say. Sometimes I hear you on television. I am shocked at how you curse and bad mouth others.
As president, don’t you think you should be a role model for good manners and right conduct? I hope that you will change your attitude. Then maybe I will respect you more.
Thank you.
Sincerely yours,
Skye
Duterte is known to pepper his speeches with curses and insults to his critics and a variety of persons. He has hurled unpleasantries to United Nations officials, human rights groups, critical government officials and journalists, among others.
Some members of the academic community in 2018 revealed that the chief executive’s constant use of explicit language has been affecting the youth, given that he is a public figure.
Duterte defended his swearing the year after and said that he is “not schooled in statesmanship.”
“It’s not even a crime,” he said, referring to the act while speaking in front of foreign leaders in 2019.
“I was not schooled in statesmanship. There is no course of that kind in the Philippines. Otherwise, I would have enrolled it and improved on my demeanor,” Duterte added.
He further said that when he was still a mayor in Davao City, he had found it difficult to carry orders without dropping curses.
A small study in 2011 suggested that middle-school children who hear foul language on television may act aggressively towards their peers.