Duterte forces smoking tourist to swallow cigarette butt
* A local tourist openly defied Davao City’s anti-smoking ordinance
* He also mocked the restaurant owner who confronted him about the violation
* Duterte poked gun at the man’s crotch and gave the smoker three choices
* The man ended up eating his own cigarette
'Papiliin kita: barilin ko ang bayag mo, i-preso kita, o kainin mo ang upos ng sigarilyo mo,' asks the feisty Davao City mayor of a tourist caught smoking
MANILA, Philippines – A tourist literally got a taste of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s non-conventional style of law enforcement.
A Filipino tourist was forced by the mayor to swallow the butt of the cigarette he was smoking after refusing to follow Davao City’s famed smoking ban, according to a Facebook post in a page calling for Duterte’s presidential bid.
The post was written by former North Cotabato governor and former journalist Manny Piñol, who openly supports a presidential candidacy for Duterte.
The tourist was in the city for the Kadayawan Festival when he dared to smoke in a restaurant one night, read the post, crediting “sources close to” Duterte for the information.
The restaurant owner informed the tourist of the anti-smoking ordinance in the city which prohibits smoking in public places.
The smoker allegedly asked, “On whose orders? Bakit pera ba ni Duterte and binibili ko ng sigarilyo? (Why, am I using Duterte’s money to buy a cigarette?)”
Unfortunately for the tourist, the restaurant owner turned out to be a friend of Duterte. The owner asked the police to inform Duterte of the tourist’s transgression.
A few minutes later, the mayor himself walked into the restaurant, prompting the shocked tourist to drop his cigarette and step on it.
Duterte then sat beside the tourist, “pulled out a snub-nosed .38 revolver and poked it at the man’s crotch,” Piñol wrote.
The mayor then allegedly told the smoker: “Papiliin kita: barilin ko ang bayag mo, i-preso kita, o kainin mo ang upos ng sigarilyo mo (I’ll give you these choices: I’ll shoot your balls, send you to jail, or you eat your cigarette butt).”
To these the smoker could only muster a measly “Sorry Mayor” before picking up the cigarette butt and swallowing it, wrote Piñol.
Davao City is 9th safest City in the World. Image source: Davao Eagle
Dare to challenge the law?
Before leaving the restaurant, witnesses heard Duterte tell the smoker, “Never ever challenge the law.”
Duterte has earned adulation for his hands-on leadership style that many say helped turn Davao City into one of the safest in the country.
But his “vigilante style” of justice and open support for killing criminals has also sparked outrage among human rights advocates and even Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.
Surveys tag him as a popular choice for president in the lead-up to the 2016 national elections. In a May 8-18, 2015 survey done by Laylo Research Strategies, Duterte and former president Joseph Estrada were tied at 3rd place with their national rating of 10%.
Though Duterte is yet to declare his presidential bid and although he has been sending mixed signals about his real intentions for 2016, he has been going around the country explaining his would-be platform and all-out support for federalism in the Philippines. – Pia Ranada/Rappler.com / Kickerdaily