Presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/LYN RILLON
In the aftermath of a social media firestorm that ensued after presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte issued controversial statements about the rape and death of an Australian lay missionary, a political analyst warned that the feisty mayor may become a “loose cannon.”
In an interview aired over Radyo Inquirer on Monday, Prof. Ramon Casiple said that the remarks made by Duterte reflect how he has adopted the ways of the “lumpenproletariat,” or the social class composed of hooligans and criminals.
“Usapang lumpen[proletariat]. ‘Yan ang naghihiwalay sa ordinaryong urban poor sa mga kriminal. ‘Yung mga lumpen,’yung mga basagulero ‘yan. ‘Yan’yung linggwaheng ginagamit sa mga kalsada at kanto.”
“’Yung linggwaheng niyan, in-adopt niya so siguro bobotohin siya nun. Pero iilan lang naman sila sa lipunan. Pero hindi’yan bahagi ng normal na lipunan… Lalo ka dapat matakot na may lumpen[proletariat] kang presidente. Loose cannon ‘yan,” Casiple said.
As to the impact of Duterte’s supposed rape “joke,” the political analyst said that the mayor might lose voters who just got on board to support him.
“Malapit ang tama, pamilya eh. Ang expectation ko dito ay mababawasan ang traction niya sa mga bagong nakakakilala sa kanya. Posible sa Mindanao, mapapalamapas ‘yan nung mga nakakakilala sa kanya before,” he said.
Casiple said that the mayor’s remarks are acceptable during drinking sprees but not onstage when one is seeking the presidency.
“Puwede ‘yun makalusot sa inuman pero sa context ng isang kampanya ng isang gustong maging presidente, eh mag-isip isip ka muna kung ano sasabihin mo,” he said.
He also slammed Duterte for the supposed “joke,” saying that no “self-respecting woman, man, or member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community” will see it as such.
“You cannot afford somebody like that na namumuno sayo at iyong pamilya, lalo na’yung may kababaihan sa pamilya, ay magiging subject ng ganyang klaseng joke. It’s a cruel joke, kung joke man yun,” he said.
Duterte was slammed for saying that he was supposed to have the first turn in raping the late Jacqueline Hamill.
He said: “All the women there were raped in the first assault and they retreated, but the bodies the attackers used remained there, one of which was the body of an Australian lay minister. Tsk, this is a problem … . The body was brought outside and it was covered. I looked at her face, son of a b****… she looked like a beautiful actress in the United States.
“Son of a b****, what a waste. I was thinking that they raped her and lined up. I was angry because she was raped, that’s one thing. But she was so beautiful, the mayor should have been first, what a waste,” Duterte added, drawing laughs and cheers from the crowd.
Hamill was raped and was found with her throat slit after a two-day hostage drama in the Davao City detention cell. The 36-year-old missionary worker was one of the 21 people who died.
Despite drawing flak from his political rivals and netizens, the tough-talking mayor stood his ground and refused to apologize. He also said that he is willing to let go of the presidency if he was forced to apologize for his “gutter language.”
“It was not a joke. I said it as a narrative. I was not smiling,” Duterte said on Sunday.
“Do not make me apologize for something which I did not do. It’s a matter of honor… I said it in the heat of anger. I am even willing to lose the presidency. Do not make me apologize for something which I did which was called for at that moment,” he said. JE
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