Residents carrying food supplies return to their homes in Marikina City, suburban Manila, on November 13, 2020, a day after Typhoon Vamco hit the capital area bringing heavy rains and flooding. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

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MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is not trivializing the plight of victims of Typhoon Ulysses when he said that he would like to swim with them in the floodwaters, Malacañang said Friday.

“Ang mga ayaw lang talaga kay Presidente ang nagsasabi niyan dahil ang talagang mensahe ng Presidente ay ‘nakikiisa ako sa lahat ng naging biktima nitong bagyong ito,’” Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque said in a televised press briefing.