Duterte says women misunderstand him

President Rodrigo Duterte said he loved and respected women but they misunderstood his statements about them, which he explained were just his way of expressing himself.

He made the remarks during ceremonies on Monday night for 10 female police and soldiers who received this year’s award for Outstanding Women in Law Enforcement and National Security of the Philippines in Malacañang.

“You know, you women deprive me of my freedom of expression… you criticize every sentence or word I say. But that is my freedom to express myself,” he said.

The President said his critics nitpick his public statements and unfairly depict him as a misogynist.

“I love women,” he said. “It’s not because when I say that I like women, that I want to despoil or dishonor. They don’t get it. I do not remember disrespecting, dishonoring anybody.”

‘Limits of despair’

He said he makes deliberate statements concerning women “because I’m trying to bring you to the limits of despair,” but he did not say why he wanted to test women in this manner.

Responding to his remarks on Tuesday, Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the President, whom she described as the country’s “chief misogynist,” countered his claim that women were “depriving” him of his freedom of expression.

Hontiveros said exercising the right to free speech does not mean violating the rights of others.

The President’s controversial remarks concerning women that had drawn widespread condemnation included his rape jokes and an order to government troops to shoot female rebels in the vagina.

“May I remind President Duterte that freedom of expression rests in the realm of human rights,” Hontiveros said. “In this context, an individual’s freedom of expression should never negate other rights, such as the right of women to be free from violence.”

‘Rape culture’

The President’s sexist and misogynistic verbal attacks were not harmless because they “denigrate women and further promote the growing climate of sexism and misogyny in the country,” she said.

“When the President says that it’s OK to rape women, he promotes the rape culture, which ultimately, could lead to women getting raped,” Hontiveros added.

The effect of the President’s “violent and antiwomen rhetoric” has been evident in widespread killings, death threats against priests, and sexist and verbal attacks against female opposition leaders, she pointed out.

Standing up to misogyny

But Hontiveros, chair of the Senate committee on women, said the President’s excuse for his language was not surprising.

“What do we really expect from the country’s chief misogynist? I encourage my fellow women to continue to close ranks and stand up against all forms of violence and discrimination against women,” she said.

Women may have achieved some victories in the fight for equality, but they would continue to push back against sexism and misogyny.

“We will not allow this to become the ‘new normal’ and get used to it. We will not be complicit in this despicable culture,” she added.

Malacañang on Tuesday said a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed an increase in the satisfaction rating of the President, including “highest marks” in promoting women’s rights, as “a vote of public confidence and a demonstration of the people’s unshakeable trust to the present administration.”

The SWS survey in December showed the Duterte administration received a +66 net satisfaction rating, a 16-point increase from the previous rating in September.

‘Presumptuous, overbearing’

“These figures are loud and clear repudiations of the critics and detractors of the President who have described him as misogynistic, antipoor and antihuman rights, and who have taken turns in questioning the Build, Build, Build infrastructure program, and lambasting the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Marawi,” according to presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo.

In addition to promoting women’s rights (+71), the “very good” numbers of the administration include high net satisfaction ratings for building and maintenance of public works (+70), helping the poor (+68), protecting human rights (+62) and reconstructing Marawi City (+60).

Opposition Rep. Tomasito “Tom” Villarin, however, scoffed at Malacañang’s “presumptuous” and “overbearing” response to the survey.

“Surveys are not unshakeable proofs of trust as these are perceptions at a given time. Trust is about a firm belief in the truth which this administration sorely does not exude; rather it promotes lies, falsity and dishonesty in politics and governance,” he said in a statement.

The President’s “very good” satisfaction rating was largely due to the fear stoked by the government on Filipinos that has prevented them from expressing their true sentiments about the country’s state of affairs, the Akbayan representative said.

“I believe respondents simply decided to give away positive responses out of fear for getting included in the narcolist and become victims of extrajudicial killings,” Villarin said. —With a report from Inquirer Research