Palace on rape joke: Duterte ‘unfit’ for president

Presidential candidate Mayor Rodrigo Duterte receives a pray over from Evangelist Apollo Quiboloy of Kingdom of Jesus Christ during a thanksgiving and worship prayer held in Lingayen town in Pangasinan province.
PHOTO BY WILLIE LOMIBAO / INQUIRER NORTHERN LUZON

Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has not “matured” and is unfit to be the next Philippine president following his rape joke, Malacañang said on Sunday.

“His statement, recorded on videotape, reveals that since he first served as Davao City Mayor, he has not matured or evolved and that his offer to serve as President truly deserves serious scrutiny,” presidential Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a statement.

READ: Duterte rape joke on Australian missionary: Too much?

Coloma hit how Duterte supposedly made fun of a serious crime like rape.

“He makes fun of and trivializes the rape and killing of a female missionary from a foreign land who was part of a team made up mostly of women and who were doing their part in reforming convicted prison inmates,” he said.

A video of Duterte has gone viral after he made a joke about an Australian rape victim whom he described as “beautiful.” The mayor “should have been first,” he said.

Coloma quoted a report by the Chicago Tribune on August 16, 1989, saying “Jacqueline Hamill, 36, an Australian lay missionary, was raped and had her throat slashed by a gang of inmates” at the Davao City Police Office.

The Palace official said Duterte’s statement “speaks volumes” about his character and “utter lack of respect for women.”

“He does not respect nor care for the sensitivities of the countries with whom the Philippines maintains cordial and cooperative relations,” Coloma said.

“Instead of being concerned about the breach of prison security in Davao City, he laments that as mayor, he was upstaged by the prison inmates who committed the heinous crimes of rape and murder,” he added.

READ: Rivals slam Duterte for ‘distasteful’ rape joke

Coloma claimed the tough-talking mayor had just confirmed that he was not fit to be the country’s next president.

“Indeed, he has confirmed by word and deed why those who oppose his candidacy have expressed utmost concern about his lack of fitness for the presidency,” he said. JE