Malacañang said that President Rodrigo Duterte won’t be able to refrain from making sexist jokes due to his old age.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this statement after Filipinos and Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Commissioner Karen Gomez called out the inappropriate remarks of Duterte in a televised disaster briefing with some of the country’s officials.

Gomez said, “Instead of making jokes at the expense of women during a government briefing, they have to respond immediately to the gendered and intersectional needs of women facing multiple disasters. They have to have zero-tolerance for violence and should not be perpetuators themselves.”

In Malacañang’s defense, this was just the president’s effort to “lighten the mood” following the consecutive typhoons in the country.

“Let’s not give too much meaning to the jokes of the president. The president is really just like that, and he can’t change anymore because he’s already in his 70s,” he said during a press briefing.

He then urged that Filipinos should stop the American way of thinking by criticizing every thing. “For the Americans, everything is given some deep meaning. But here in the Philippines, let’s take a joke for what it is: a joke,” he said.

According to the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, “Public officials and employees shall perform and discharge their duties with the highest degree of excellence, professionalism, intelligence and skill. They shall enter public service with utmost devotion and dedication to duty. They shall endeavor to discourage wrong perceptions of their roles as dispensers or peddlers of undue patronage.”

This is not the first time that the public has frowned upon Duterte’s behavior. In 2016, he drew flak for commenting he should have been the first to rape the Australian missionary in Davao.