President Duterte: I will ride till I die

Like every true rider at heart

In an exclusive interview with GMA's Unang Hirit for their 20^th anniversary special, President Rodrigo Duterte has declared that he will only stop riding motorcycles when he dies. “Titigl lang ako magmotorsiklo kung patay na ako (I will only stop riding motorcycles when I die)”.

This came after the President was bombarded with quick complete-the-sentence questions from the TV show hosts, Arnold Clavio and Susan Enriquez. He further added that he was serious when he said that and it is better to die than give up something that he really enjoys: riding motorcycles.

“Hindi, totoo. Hindi ako maghihinto. Dahil pag maghihinto ako [magmotorsiklo], mabuti pa mamatay dahil wala na eh. Kung wala na rin kaligayahan yung buhay mo, wala na rin. Wala ka na magawa. Mabuti pa mamatay ka (No, it's true. I will never stop [riding motorcycles]. Because if I stop, it is better to die since there's nothing to enjoy about living. There will be no happiness in life).”

Just a few months ago, President Duterte fell off from his motorcycle while riding inside the Palace grounds. He brushed off the incident as a minor accident and that it will not deter him from riding. He explained that if one stops riding motorcycles because of an accident, fear will quickly take over, and that's why motorcycle riders must ride again to overcome that fear.

In this article, we also speculated what might be the President's next ride, especially with the next National Motorcycle Convention to be held in his turf, Davao City. When asked what he wished for himself this Christmas, the President simply said “pwede sana, motor (a motorcycle, perhaps)”.

Source: GMA News