MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – A short video message posted by Philippine presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte asking Filipinos not to vote for him has gone viral.  It was an attempt by the Davao City mayor to reach out to millennials and netizens, many of whom get their news from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

International readers of The Adobo Chronicles have reached out to us to translate into English Duterte’s message  which was entirely delivered in Tagalog.

Here’s is the best attempt by our language experts:

“My name is Rodrigo Duterte. I am ready to be of service to the Philippines and the Filipino people.  This nation and our people can be great again.  However, if you don’t want me to personally execute criminals, don’t vote for me.  If you don’t want me to abolish Congress, don’t vote for me.  If you don’t want me forcing smokers to swallow their cigarette butts, don’t vote for me.  If you don’t want me forcing laglag bala (bullet planting) perpetrators at NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) to swallow the bullets, don’t vote for me. If you don’t want a president with a Visayan accent, don’t vote for me. If you want a beautiful and fashionable First Lady, vote for Mar Roxas.  If you want to continue watching AlDub, don’t vote for me.”

“If you decide to vote for me, I promise you that I will turn Manila from the “Gates of Hell” to “Stairway to Heaven.”

Our translation has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.