Presidential candidate Mayor Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Presidential aspirant Rodrigo Duterte apologized for his rape joke in a campaign rally last week.
“I apologize to the Filipino people for my recent remarks in a rally. There was no intention of disrespecting our women and those who have been victims of this horrible crime. Sometimes my mouth can get the better of me,” Duterte said in a statement sent by his spokesperson Peter Laviña.
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But the Davao City mayor said he will not apologize for the “things I’ve done to protect our people, especially the weak and defenseless, from crime.”
Duterte was criticized for saying a rape joke about an Australian missionary who was held hostage, raped and killed inside a police headquarters here in 1989.
At a campaign rally in Quezon City on April 12, Duterte spoke about the killing of Jacquiline Hamill and four other missionaries in his city in 1989. Duterte said he was angered because Hamill was so beautiful and the prisoners took turns raping her when “the mayor should have been first.”
Duterte, however, said he was not joking. He said he uttered “the mayor should have been first” as part of his order to kill all the hostage-takers.
On Tuesday, however, he issued an apology for his remarks.
He also said if he is given the chance to lead this country, “I promise to all of you that I will protect our women, children and families from the horrors and disorder of crime.”
“I will do this even if I lose my life, my honor and even the presidency,” he said.
“My life is an open book. I am a man of many flaws and contradictions. But when it comes to securing the lives and future of our countrymen and women, you can trust me to do the right thing. I will fight for the people until my last breath,” he added.