"Alam mo panahon ng kampanya yun, hindi siguro sanay itong mga g*** na style ko sa kampanya. Nagyabang ako na pupunta ako sa Spratlys, magdala ako ng flag sakay ako ng jet ski," Duterte said in his weekly public address.
Panahon ‘yan sa kampanya ‘yan. At saka ‘yung biro na ‘yun, ‘yung bravado ko, it was a pure campaign joke at kung naniniwala kayo sa kabila pati na siguro si [Antonio] Carpio, I would say you are really stupid," he added.
Earlier, the President said he never promised that he would retake the West Philippine Sea during his presidential campaign in 2016.
It was then slammed by retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, calling it a “grand estafa" and making foolery of the 16 million Filipinos who voted for him during the 2016 presidential elections.
According to Duterte, he had indeed planned to fulfill his promise, even going to the extent of buying a second-hand jet ski. But said he found it to be logistically impossible as he said he would run out of gasoline and could be overwhelmed by big waves.
“Nagplano ako niyan. Bumili ako ng jet ski, ang kaya ko second hand lang. So nag order ako ng piyesa, hanggang ngayon hindi pa dumating since then. Walang dumating eh wala akong magawa,” he said.
"Hindi ako mag-abot pa ng ilang oras, I would conk out it the middle of the sea... Takot akong mamatay," he added.
Last week, Duterte dared Carpio to debate over the issues surrounding the West Philippine Sea. It was immediately accepted by the former magistrate.
However, Duterte later withdraw and tapped his spokesman Harry Roque with the debate he initiated.
