But he would close down EDSA and reroute traffic for the public’s convenience.
“kung sabihin niyo tatlong araw, bigyan ko kayo ng lima. Kung sabihin ninyo, ‘I will occupy sa EDSA dito na kami magdudumi, dito na kami magkain, dito kami matulog,’ I’ll give you two months,” the President said.
“‘Pag ayaw ninyo, sirhan ko na EDSA, inyo na ‘yan. Sabihin ko i-reroute your traffic. Inyo na ‘yang EDSA. Then the Filipinos will just have to suffer. Kayong nagtatrabaho diyan na salesgirl, factory, ganoon. Well, they’ll just have to contend with itong mga ‘to,” he added.
“I challenge you. If you think that three days, one month will do, go ahead, be my guest,” the President continued.
Duterte said he could tolerate that scenario for a year. But he could not say the same for the public.
“I can live with it for about one—one year. Sige. Tapos tignan natin kung gusto ng Pilipino, eh ‘di tignan ko,” he added.
Nonetheless, he reminded the protesters to ensure to stage a peaceful assembly on September 21.
“Protest in peace. I do not know how many millions would be joining you. I hope you can produce the—the crowd in EDSA,” he said.
Earlier, Duterte warned that he would use force against protesters if things get out of control.
The President also said he would also protest against the government because of the corrupt “yellow” officials
“Kasi ako magpoprotesta rin. Kasi maraming mga dilaw, nandiyan sa mga commission, napaka-corrupt. So, even ‘yung sa mga regulatory board, eh magpoprotesta rin ako because I cannot remove them simply because they have a fixed term, there’s a security of tenure,” he said.
“Ibig sabihin, hindi mo basta-basta mapaalis. It’s either sa Civil Service or you have to go to court to oust them. ‘Yan ang problema ko rin. So pati ako, nagpoprotesta,” he added.