Solons criticize Duterte’s ‘maraming maganda, maraming rape’ remark
Bayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes and ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro. INQUIRER.net file photo / Gabriel P. Lalu
“There is rape because there is a rapist.”
This was what ACT-Teachers Rep. France Castro stressed on Friday as she demanded a public apology from President Rodrigo Duterte for his recent “maraming maganda, maraming rape” remark.
“President Duterte has once again reared his ugly misogynist, chauvinist head. Instead of answering the issue of rape in his city—in his country, for that matter—he again resorted to victim-blaming and crass, unfunny jokes,” Castro said in a statement.
“We demand from Rodrigo Duterte immediate retraction of his latest [statement] and public apology. We demand that his administration ensure immediate justice for rape victims not only in Davao but for the entire country,” she also said.
In a speech during the 49th Mandaue City Charter Day in Cebu, the chief executive said in jest: “Ingon sila nga daghang rape ang Davao. Basta daghang guwapa, daghang rape gyud na.”
(They said there are many rape cases in Davao. If there are many beautiful women, there are more cases of rape.)
READ: Pres. Duterte says Davao has most number of rape cases due to their beautiful women
Castro said this is “unbecoming of any person, any public servant, most especially of the President.”
“There is rape because there is a rapist, not because of anything about the victim. There is rape because there are people who value women not as human beings but as mere objects to use whenever lust visits,” she stressed.
The opposition lawmaker also lamented how Duterte has become a “bad example to children.”
“Masama siyang ehemplo para sa mga bata. Sa totoo lang, sa tuwing nagsasalita siya ng ganito ay kailangan pang burahin ng mga guro at magulang ang impression na binibigay niya sa mga bata sa kung ano dapat ang kilos at pananalita ng isang tunay na lalake, isang tunay na tao,” she said.
(He’s a bad example to children. To be honest, every time he speaks like this, our teachers and parents are obliged to erase this impression from the minds of our children on what action and words of a real man, real person.)
Gabriela Reps. Emmi de Jesus and Arlene Brosas, meanwhile, said Duterte’s rape remark may send “a very dangerous and distorted message” that “a woman’s beauty is a cause of rape.”
“We reiterate that rape is a crime punishable under our laws, and it occurs only because of the rapist mentality being perpetrated by no less than the President. We strongly condemn this latest flamboyant display of misogyny, which places more Filipino women at risk of rape,” they added.
This was not the first time the President drew flak for his rape jokes. During his election campaign in 2016, he joked about an Australian missionary who was raped in Davao City.
READ: Duterte rape joke on Australian missionary: Too much?
In July, the President also joked that he would congratulate a rapist who could carry out the crime even knowing he would die.
READ: Duterte’s latest rape joke is on Miss Universe
This, along with the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, prompted the resignation of Bangsamoro Transition Commission member Samira Gutoc-Tomawis.
READ: Duterte ‘rape joke’ just ‘heightened bravado’—Palace
/jpv
