Rodrigo Duterte has been condemned for 'joking' about the 1989 rape-murder of a missionary.
Romeo Ranoco/ Reuters
Filipino presidential
candidate Rodrigo 'Rody' Duterte has come under heavy criticism after a
video showing the former city mayor joking about the 1989 murder of an
Australian missionary during a political rally, was released, say
reports on 17 April.
In 1989, an unnamed
prison missionary was raped and murdered at a prison based in Davao City
on the main Philippine island of Mindanao. At the time Duterte, now 70,
was the mayor
.
During a recent rally, Duterte said that the female
missionary was "so beautiful that the mayor should have been first", to
reported fits of laughter from his supporters, reported the BBC.
Duterte has now been branded "unfit" to run for the post of
president by the leader of the opposition, while his supporters have
dismissed the comments
as a "joke". President Benigno Aquino said, through a spokesman, that
the comments reflected Duterte's "lack of fitness for the presidency"
and his "utter lack of respect for women".
Filipino
male students stand in front of a banner as they wear women's shoes
during a rally a day before the celebration of International Women's Day
in Quezon City, Manila in the Philippines
Erik De Castro/ Reuters
Duterte's rival candidate, Vice President Jejomar Binay, released a statement saying
Duterte was "a crazy maniac who doesn't respect women and doesn't deserve to be president".
Human Rights Watch Deputy Asia Director Phil Robertson, branded the comments as "a disgusting endorsement of sexual violence" in a tweet sent live from the rally.
According to national newspaper
Philstar,
on Sunday Filipino Women's group
Gabriela
demanded an immediate apology from the presidential candidate, saying
in an official statement that "…rape, or any form of sexual abuse is not
a joke nor something to be trivialized in a joke, especially by a
public official and most especially by those aspiring for the highest
post in the land".
Rappler.com
reported that Duterte has refused to apologise , saying, "I am willing
to lose the presidency. Do not make me apologize for something which I
did which was called for at the moment."
The recent incident follows a string of inflammatory
comments from Duterte, ranging from boasting "sexual conquests, to his
proposed mass execution of 100,000 suspected criminals whose remains
would be dumped "in Manila Bay", according to Al Jazeera.
Duterte had
previously admitted to forming vigilante death squads who killed more
than 1,000 people accused of minor crimes in Davao City. He has since
been branded as the "Death Squad Mayor" by
a report by Human Rights Watch in 2015.
The Philippines' presidential elections are due to take place on 9 May.
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