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Manila: Governor Jose Salceda of Albay in southern Luzon admitted that President Gloria Arroyo had not responded to any of three text messages he had sent her apologising for having called her a "lucky bitch".
"I hope so. She could be very busy," Salceda said when asked if he thought he would be forgiven.
"I sent her my apologies by text three times. There was no reply, but I know the text reached her cell phone," he said.
He explained that by calling Arroyo a "bitch," he had meant to draw attention to her straightforward and no-nonsense disposition, which sometimes also saw her losing her temper.
Exaggerated comment
"Usually, in the spirit of intellectual discourse, you don't exaggerate your statistics but you tend to exaggerate your comments," Salceda said on how he had sought to praise Arroyo for the country's economic growth in 2007, at the Ateneo University on February 13.
Salceda said he meant to say that the president was "one lucky girl," adding he had only "exaggerated" his comment on the country's growth by calling her "the luckiest bitch".
He said he immediately knew he had made a mistake when people broke into laughter after his remark.
"When I said bitch, I meant the president can get ill-tempered and bitch at times. That's what bitchy means, doesn't it?" Salceda further explained.
"If I criticise the president, I'll first resign from the party," he added.
"I don't have any reason to not recall what I said. I was caught on video," Salceda explained when asked if he would deny having made the comment. "It was a bad joke," he admitted, coming at a time when the president was "under political pressure".
The opposition has been leading a campaign calling for Arroyo's resignation over allegations of corruption in awarding government contracts.
Explanation sought
Earlier, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez had sought an explanation from Salceda for the alleged slur.
"I don't think he meant that but he has to explain that. The word bitch is a no-no here. I think it's worse than saying the president is evil. That word is not nice," Gonzales said.
Gonzales referred to former National Economic Development Authority chief Romulo Neri who had reportedly called Arroyo an "evil person".
Salceda and Neri are two of Arroyo's close economic confidantes.
Arroyo's legal counsel Sergio Apostol sought to put a lid on the matter. "Salceda admitted saying it, and he has already apologised for it. Let's not blow the issue out of proportion," he said.
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