PRESIDENTIAL candidate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday disowned an apology for remarks he made about the rape of an Australian missionary in 1989, saying that it was issued on his behalf by his party, the Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan.
Duterte said he never approved the statement, which was released by PDP-Laban spokeswoman Paola Alvarez.
“Anyway, [it was] PDP-Laban, okay na iyon [it’s okay],” he told reporters.
On Sunday and Monday, Duterte was adamant that he would not apologize, after a video showed him telling a rally that he was angry at inmates who raped an attractive Australian missionary in 1989, not only because they committed a crime, but because they beat him to her.
But in a forum in Quezon City, the PDP-Laban spokeswoman contradicted Duterte, saying that the mayor refused to read the draft statement because it was written in English.
She said the apology was “sincere,” and tried to steer media attention instead
to President Aquino’s sister Kris using the presidential plane to campaign for administration bet Manuel Roxas II.
The statement released Tuesday, and subsequently disowned by Duterte, read:
“I apologize to the Filipino people for my recent remarks in a rally. There was no intention of disrespecting our women and those who have been victims of this horrible crime. Sometimes my mouth can get the better of me.
“However, I will not apologize for the things I’ve done to protect our people, especially the weak and defenseless, from crime. I know what it can do to the victims and their families. The anguish and pain they cause. The trauma that can’t be erased. I have witnessed these myself numerous times.”
Duterte has reaped a firestorm of protest after the video of his speech spread on the Internet.
“Nagalit ako kasi ni-rape. Oo, isa rin ‘yun. Pero napakaganda, dapat mayor muna nauna. Sayang, [I got mad because she was raped. That’s one thing. But she was so beautiful, the mayor should have been first. What a waste],” he told a crowd in a campaign sortie on April 12.
The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday likened Duterte to the leading Republical presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, writing not only about his controversial rape remark, but also his links to extrajuidicial killings and his reputation as a womanizer.
“While [YouTube] commentators have started referring to him as another Donald Trump, this guy makes Trump look like Mr. Rogers,” wrote Travis M. Andrews in the Washington Post, referring to Fred Rogers, who hosted a popular children’s show.
Duterte played down comparisons to Trump, telling the Associated Press that Trump was a bigot while he was not.
He also called his daughter Inday Sara a “drama queen,” after she claimed she had been raped years ago, and that she did not find her father’s remarks offensive.
“Do you believe her? I don’t know. We don’t talk about it. She was ambivalent when she said that to me. I really don’t know,” he said, then added: “She can’t be raped. She always carries a gun.”
Various women’s groups belonging to Women Against Duterte filed a complaint against Duterte before the Commission on Human Rights for violating the Magna Carta of Women.
“To make the rape of a woman who was later killed a laughing matter, and to treat women as playthings to be taken advantage of constitute an affront to us and all women,” their complaint read.
“As a public official, an incumbent Mayor of Davao City, and now seeking to win the highest position of the land, Mr. Duterte is expected to be an exemplar of a respectable, law-abiding citizen. Instead, he arrogantly flaunts his power over these women and diminishes their worth as human beings.”
CHR Chairman Chito Gascon said they will summon Duterte to answer the complaint.
“We take cognizance of the complaint,” he said. “Rape is one of the greatest forms of violence against women.”
Alvarez defended Duterte’s record, saying he promoted the welfare, health and safety of women in Davao City for decades.
“Mayor Duterte is well-loved as an overprotective father by women and children in Davao City because they know he is ready and willing to sacrifice his own life in order to protect them from criminals,” she added.
She also said that “a very real language barrier” that caused people to misunderstand Duterte.
“The nuances of Mayor Duterte’s statements have been open to differing interpretations and, worse, to being taken out of context by his political opponents. This is especially so since Mayor Duterte has a peculiar, tough-guy way of speaking,” she said.
She added that Duterte was the last person to think ill of women.
In the House, a Duterte supporter, 1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III, played down the mayor’s remarks.
“The CHR should not allow itself to engage in witch hunting by the Aquino administration,” he said. “In spite of his dirty mouth, Mayor Duterte will give us a clean government.”
Duterte also drew fire from Commissioner Rowena Guanzon of the Commission on Elections, who said she was disgusted by the mayor’s remarks, saying that he treated the rape victim, Jacqueline Hamill, “as if she were not a human being.”
She added that she would propose a code of conduct for all candidates.
Duterte’s opponent, Vice President Jejomar Binay, kept up his attack on the frontrunner in recent surveys, saying that the mayor’s “rape joke” could have a backlash on Filipinos working abroad.
“What was frightening was how Duterte’s tasteless joke and the laughter from his supporters could be taken as a sign by foreigners on how Filipino men view and treat women and how women view themselves,” the vice president said.
He added that a vote for Duterte was a vote wasted. With Maricel V. Cruz, Sara Susanne Fabunan, Christine F. Herrera and Vito Barcelo
