Palace downplays ‘wheelchair’ joke

Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte

President Benigno Aquino didn’t mean to offend people with disabilities (PWDs) with his “joke” about wheelchairs, Malacañang said Tuesday.

The President cracked a joke before the Filipino community in New Zealand on Monday, saying corrupt Filipinos back home drive fancy cars, but try to evade prosecution in court by using wheelchairs.

“The President’s joke was not addressed to persons with disabilities. It’s clear in the way he framed his speech. They (PWDs) were not the subject,” Undersecretary Abigail Valte, deputy presidential spokesperson, told reporters. “We hope that they don’t feel bad about it.”

Some PWDs on wheelchairs, however, didn’t find the joke funny.

“First, let’s not take ourselves too seriously,” Valte said in response to criticisms of the joke. “It was not the President who crafted the joke. Again, at the end of the day, it’s not a joke.”

Speaking before Filipinos during his two-day state visit to New Zealand, the President lashed out at the past Arroyo administration over corruption and mismanagement in government, before he made the joke on wheelchairs.

In the joke, Mr. Aquino was obviously referring to the wheelchair-bound former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who tried to leave for medical treatment abroad for a rare neck ailment in November 2011 but was blocked by authorities.

Mr. Aquino said he came across the joke in a text message.

Valte said Mr. Aquino received text messages, and used these to spice up his speeches. She doubted the “joke” was part of his speech originally written by speech writers.

“Normally it’s the President who incorporates these in his speeches to liven up his conversation with the Filipino community,” she said.

Contrary to reports, the President didn’t call Arroyo a criminal, she said.

On militant groups’ criticism of Mr. Aquino’s “extravagant” foreign travels, she said: “We are obviously being baited and we will not take the bait.”