MANILA—President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday resorted to body-shaming and a threat of violence toward Sen. Richard Gordon after he called for respectful treatment of others in the same public address.

In a taped briefing with Cabinet members, Duterte said his weekly public address, in which he sometimes goes on profane tirades, was not meant to demean people.

"Ang purpose nito, walang insultuhan dito (The purpose is here is we don't want to insult anybody). Everybody is behaved according to the norms of conduct, what a citizen of this country should be. We respect each other and everything," Duterte said.

Nearly an hour later, however, Duterte again blew up on Gordon, accusing the senator again of pocketing P86 million in a previous Priority Development Assistance Fund given to the Philippine Red Cross, calling the senator a thief. Gordon is the chairman of the PRC.

"Magnanakaw ka. Isang issue ko lang sa’yo, ’yung P86 million na ninakaw mo. Kasi sabihin mo na wala sa’yo. Nasaan? Di ninakaw mo," the President said without offering evidence.

(You're a thief. My one issue with you is the P86 million you stole. If you say you didn't steal it, then where is it? You stole it.)

Duterte then dared Gordon to return the allegedly stolen money or he would hit him.

" ’Pag inabot kita, sapakin ko ulo mo. Bakit mo tinakbo pera ng gobyerno? (If I chance upon you, I’ll hit you in the head. Why did you take government money?) he said.

Duterte then went on to target Gordon’s physique.

" ’Yung katawan mo? Isang wallop ka (lang). ’Wag ka nga mayabang diyan (With you physique, it takes one punch. Don’t be arrogant," the President said, adding that the public should heckle Gordon and shout "bayaran mo (return the money)" wherever he goes.

The President then said: " ’Yung kurbata mo, bumili ka ng medyo malaki . . . ’Yang tiyan mo nahuhulog na doon sa puson mo, p***ng i** ka," the President said.

(Buy a bigger tie. Your tummy’s starting to show you son of a b****.)

Since last month, Duterte has been relentlessly going after Gordon, who began to lead a Senate inquiry into the administration's pandemic transactions, including the procurement of allegedly overpriced anti-virus masks and face shields from private firm Pharmally.

This included grilling former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang and former Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao, Duterte's former election lawyer, over allegedly shady deals involving state funds. Yang and Lao are among those being linked to the allegedly anomalous procurement of overpriced pandemic supplies.

• Gordon hits Duterte anew for supposedly defending Pharmally deal personalities

Angered by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee probe, Duterte accused Gordon of using the PRC to promote his political plans. The senator is known to be eyeing another term for the upper chamber, and at one time was open to run for president.

Gordon has been vocal in criticizing Duterte for allegedly defending those being investigated by the Blue Ribbon panel. After the President had ordered the country's police and military to "stay out" of the Senate probe into Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corp., the senator accused him of possibly starting a "Constitutional crisis."

"It is catastrophic for our country that the President is willing to provoke a Constitutional crisis to protect these corrupt people who have lined their pockets with our people's money and now go around in ostentatious displays of ill-gotten wealth, driving around in multimillion-peso luxury cars and living in mansions while our people continue to suffer, starve and die," Gordon said.

• Duterte willing to start Constitutional crisis to defend corrupt people: Gordon

A government video earlier showed Duterte meeting Pharmally executives with Yang in attendance in Davao City in March 2017, regarding the company's possible business activities in the country.

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