A foul-mouthed 2016: The year in Duterte’s curses

MANILA, Philippines – One distinguishing characteristic of 2016 is, it’s the first year the country experienced almost daily doses of President Rodrigo Duterte’s passionate speeches.

These speeches, more often than not, were peppered with the curses and insults that are partly why Duterte has become controversial. 

The Philippine leader has deployed a panoply of bad words (can you guess which is his favorite?), directed at a variety of groups and individuals, including US President Barack Obama, the European Union, Senator Leila de Lima, and even priests.

His foul mouth has elicited different responses from his audience – from embarrassed laughter to outright disgust. 

Duterte must’ve realized the effects of his expletives because he himself joked that God threatened to take his plane down if he refused to clean his mouth.

Will the next 5 years of the Duterte presidency be just as foul-mouthed? We’ll just have to wait and see. – Pia Ranada/Rappler.com