MANILA, Philippines – Once again poking fun at his fiercest critic, Senator Antonio Trillanes, President Rodrigo Duterte likened the opposition lawmaker to Judas Iscariot, whom the new government appointees should not emulate. 

During a speech on Wednesday, December 6, at the oath-taking of new government officials, Duterte launched into a long story about how the famous Italian Renaissance artist  Leonardo da Vinci painted his masterpiece, ‘The Last Supper.’

Duterte said, Da Vinci searched far and wide for models for Jesus and each of the 12 apostles. He found the perfect model for St Peter, who Duterte said, looks like National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. After much effort, he found an actor who was handsome enough to model as Jesus.

“He was an actor, he was really beautiful. So it struck him (Da Vinci) and said, ‘This is the kind of face that I would paint for Jesus Christ,'” narrated Duterte.

The man agreed to pose for Da Vinci.

Soon enough, the famous Italian Renaissance painter had found models for all the people in his painting and painted them into the scene. But one remained unpainted: Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus Christ.

In another town, Da Vinci found his man.

“He saw this man nag-i-scavenge, scavenging the basura, naghanap ng pagkain. So pagdaan niya nakita niya, nakita niya, “Putang ina, Trillanes nga ito. Nandito lang pala eh,'” said a chuckling Duterte.

(He saw this man scavenging among the trash, looking for food. When he passed by, he saw him, ‘Son of a bitch, this is Trillanes. He’s been here all this time.’)

Then Da Vinci, said Duterte, asked the man not to be insulted with his request to pose as Judas. While he is not the traitor apostle himself, the painter insisted the man had a “face of evil.” This, said Duterte, is the same thing he would tell Trillanes.

“I will also say, ‘You are a model, a face of evil,'” said the President.

After the Judas model had posed and the painting was completed, Duterte said the model fell to his knees and cried.

When Da Vinci asked why the man was in tears, the man revealed that he was Da Vinci’s model for Jesus Christ. But the man told Da Vinci that bad decisions in life  made him look like Judas.

Duterte wrapped up his humorous story by saying his audience of new government officials should learn from it.

Like the Jesus model, said Duterte, “We all start with the noblest of intention, joining government.”

“I hate to see you being a Jesus Christ, only to discover in the end that you are the Judas that I have been also looking for,” he said.

With more than a hint of warning against corruption, Duterte told his appointees: “I hope I will not have to ask you to pose a picture which I will draw. I will be drawing shortly before I leave the presidency.” – Rappler.com