So Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is a sexist, potty-mouthed, bad-ass. We knew that to begin with. The question is, why does he still have a legion of supporters?
His remarks about the 1989 rape-slay of an Australian missionary angered women’s groups, the religious, the Australian ambassador to the Philippines, as well as many people here and abroad.
The incident turned some Duterte supporters against him. It was like watching a horse you’d bet on pulling away from the pack but suddenly stumbling just before reaching the finish line.
Here’s my take, as a woman and the mother of two daughters —rape is not funny. Violence is not funny. It is not a joke. The remark—“Dapat nauna ang Mayor”—was disgusting.
Duterte is a product of our patriarchal culture. His remark reflects the prevailing anti-women attitudes of both men and women in society. I’ve heard many other politicians speak the same way.
However, the tide slowly is turning, and sexists are on the wrong side of history. But changing societal attitudes is a long and difficult process, and having a high-profile personality validate these negative norms is detrimental to the efforts of many who are working to make this country a better, safer environment for people of all genders.
Based on netizens’ comments, many men brushed off his remarks as something that a man would naturally say. What was horrifying that many women as well rushed to defend him, his own daughter Sara one of them.
I am sure many Duterte supporters are experiencing cognitive dissonance as a result of his offensive remark, but they are coming up with arguments to counter that. A Duterte supporter told me: “It was just a joke. In fact he is angry at rapists and other criminals. Well, what do you want—someone who will clean up the country, or a sweet-talker who will do nothing?”
Those who wonder why Duterte still has supporters after this, this is the reality—they are desperate. They are so desperate for change, for something other than what we have now, that they are still willing to put this man in the presidency.
Our country’s problems didn’t happen overnight. So this goes to our leaders for the past couple of decades: what did you do, and what did you fail to do, that made many Filipinos so despairing that despite all Duterte’s flaws, they are still willing to elect him? Why are so many fed up with the status quo that they see him as a Messiah even while toting guns and curses?
At first refusing to apologize, Duterte recently did, saying he had “no intention of disrespecting our women and those who have been victims of this horrible crime.”
He took the opportunity to spin the incident around. “I know what it [crime] can do to the victims and their families…the trauma that can’t be erased…this is why I am angry.” He vowed that if elected he would “protect our women, children, and families from the horrors and disorders of crime.”
This is what his supporters are counting on. They are willing to accept all his faults if he can just deliver on his promises. This is just how bad the situation in our country is.
* * *
For a communication scholar, this election campaign is one of the richest in terms of topics to explore. It’s interesting for me in that regard but as a citizen it is excruciatingly painful to watch. We’re talking about our country here, and our present and future.
It’s like a bad ball game—it’s time to sub out the guy with ball, but our bench of players is shallow. With 18 days more to go of this circus, let’s see who’ll be the next to shoot themselves in the foot with their mouth, if that metaphor makes any sense, because not a lot about this campaign is making any sense anymore.
* * *
Like maps? Enjoy Philippine history? Love free books? Check out the Historical Atlas of the Republic, recently published by the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office. It helps the reader summarize, visualize, and contextualize Philippine history “through a collection of 44 concise [and] meticulously researched political, demographic, maritime, military, and migration maps.”
Download the free e-book from malacanang.gov.ph.
* * *
The National Book Development Board is staging the 7th Philippine International Literary Festival on April 28-29 in Quezon City with the theme “Against Forgetting.” Admission is free but you need to register by emailing litfest@nbdb.gov.ph. Do bring book donations.
Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Instagram: @jensdecember
