MANILA, Philippines – For the second time, President Rodrigo Duterte’s public speech was sabotaged by a bothersome bug.

On Tuesday night, July 30, Duterte was right in the middle of explaining his frustration at Catholic Church teachings when a fly buzzed into his face, interrupting his speech.

As he attempted to swat the insect away, the President joked that the creature must have been sent by priests angered by his words.

“Maski noon pa talagang may away na ako sa pari kagaya ng langaw na ito. Utos man nila ito,” Duterte said during an event in Taguig City. (Even before, I had a quarrel with priests like this fly. I’m sure they sent it.)

He claimed the fly had been tailing him since earlier that day.

“Kanina pa ‘yan sunod nang sunod sa akin. Naligo naman ako, mga buwang,” the President said, causing his audience to laugh. (It’s been following me since earlier. But I took a bath, the fool.)

Right before the fly had landed on his face, Duterte was explaining how some Catholic Church teachings did not make any sense to him.

“Sometimes their ex cathedra or dogmas is simply not acceptable to my God-given common sense,” Duterte said.

Later in his speech, he asked for a bottle of water, claiming a fly had dropped into his glass of water.

Duterte reserved a few words of vitriol for the night’s unexpected irritant.

“Maghintay ka. Itong speech ko, ihampas ko sa inyo (You wait. I’ll hit you with my speech.),” the Chief Executive said.

This is the second time that an insect caused Duterte to depart from his speech. Last May, a cockroach landed on Duterte’s shoulder as he was endorsing his senatorial candidates for the 2019 elections.

He had then blamed the opposition for the cockroach. – Rappler.com