'Call me Mayor': Duterte rejects being called 'Your Excellency'

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MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated Friday that he does not like being called "Your Excellency", saying he had rejected the honorific even when he was mayor of Davao City.

:Stop calling me 'excellency'. Do not call me 'Your Excellency.' I am not 'Your Excellency'... I appreciate it more if you call me mayor," he said in a Cabinet briefing.

The President earlier issued a directive asking officials to refrain from addressing him as “His Excellency” and "Honorable" in all official communications.

"The President shall be addressed in all official communications, events or materials as 'President Rodrigo Roa Duterte' only, and without the term 'His Excellency,'" the memorandum said.

Meanwhile, "All members of the Cabinet shall be addressed in all official communications submitted to the Office of the President as 'Secretary' only and without the term 'Honorable.'

The memorandum, however, clarified that all government agencies and offices, in their discretion, may use the term "Honorable" in addressing their respective heads of offices in their internal communication and documents.