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President Rodrigo Duterte became irked on Wednesday when his joke on Vice President Leni Robredo's wearing a short skirt in a Cabinet meeting drew criticisms for being "inappropriate" and "unpresidential."

In a press briefing before leaving for Thailand and Malaysia at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Duterte slammed the media for raising issues, which are "trivial." .

During the third year commemoration of typhoon Yolanda’s devastation in Tacloban City on Tuesday, Duterte joked how he stared at Robredo's legs when she wore a short skirt in one of the Cabinet meetings in Malacanang.

He also joked about the possibility of him and Roberdo into a relationship, he, being a single after his first marriage was annulled, and Robredo, a widow.

"Yeah, I said she was wearing a skirt, her knees were (exposed)...so what's the problem there? Why an issue? Sexist?," he said.

"And I said that every meeting, you ask all of the Cabinet members, just to lighten the moment. What’s so special about the knee of a person?"

Duterte said he made a joke in Tacloban to make people laugh because he was angry.

He was disappointed over delays in delivering assistance by the government agencies to the victims of Yolanda.

"I do not stop being president just because I-- Do not exact a standard for me. I will do what I say and I say what I do," he said.

"You want to depict me as bastos (rude)? You can. Have your day. It’s not my concern to impose this standard. Do not put a levitation or cast aspersion on my jokes. I am not a general. I am a politician," he exclaimed.

He added: "Is that the trivialities of media? It’s so trivial." Celerina Monte/DMS