President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday drew laughter from the audience after he joked about being “distracted” by the legs of a Department of Agriculture (DA) senior official.

“Berna, nadis-distract ako, you close your legs. National TV 'no. Nakikinig pa ba ang papa mo?” Duterte said in a speech in Malacanang, referring to Agriculture Undersecretary Bernadette Romulo Puyat, a daughter of former Senator and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo.

The president has previously expressed his fondness for the mestiza widow. A photo of them in 2015 posted by a website shows them holding hands.

In an interview with Asian Dragon magazine in 2015 when he was still weighing whether to run for president, then-Mayor Duterte said, “Election or no election, Berna remains to be my ideal first lady...She’s one person I’m proud of showing to the world.”