MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday showed a tattoo on his arm in an apparent defense of his son, Davao City vice-mayor Paolo Duterte, who was dared by Senator Antonio Trillanes to show his own.

"It’s a rose. Dito iyong number ko ng Guardians (Brotherhood). Tingnan mo kamay ni Pulong, tingnan mo kamay ni Honasan. That’s a brotherhood. Ipa-decode mo iyan. Sabihin ko nga kay Greg, pu****-*** ipa-decode mo iyan," Duterte said in a press briefing at Camp Evangelista Station Hospital in Cagayan de Oro city.

During an inquiry on Thursday, Trillanes alleged that the tattoo on Paolo's back would purportedly be evidence that the vice mayor is part of an international crime syndicate.

Paolo's lawyer, Rainier Madrid, said: "My client refuses to be an 'uto-uto' . . . I will not allow my client to be humiliated under such a silly circumstance.

"We do not want to dignify Trillanes' accusations and fishing expedition. The issue discussed in the committee is not [the] existence of the tattoo."

Later, Paolo's sister, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, posted a photo of a "triad tattoo" apparently mocking Trillanes.