Background Information
On the 5th of September 2016, before he left for the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines blisteringly criticizes the United States and emphasizes the Philippines’ sovereignty. This was a response to the then U. S. President Barack Obama’s comments about the human rights violations, i.e., extrajudicial killing, being committed in President Duterte’s “war against drugs.”
Original Video
President Duterte threatens: “Putangina mo, mumurahin kita diyan sa forum na iyan.”
Loosely translated to: “You son of a b*tch, I’ll cuss you out in that forum.”
Verbatim Investigation
Laura Cabochan, a Filipino doctoral student of the Program in Educational Theatre, performed a verbatim re-enactment of an excerpt of this speech after having carefully studied Duterte’s words, gestures, and movements.
This performance asks viewers to reflect on the following:
- What societal expectations surround the way genders exhibit “toughness”
- How are one’s perceptions of President Duterte affected when another body inhabits his words and gestures?
