Comelec commissioner Rowena Guanzon.
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
A commissioner of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday hit presidential candidate and Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for his infamous remarks on the rape slay of an Australian lay missionary in 1989.
In a statement, Comelec commissioner Ma. Rowena Amelia Guanzon said that the supposed “joke” of Duterte on the death of 36-year-old Jacqueline Hamill was “disgusting.”
“Out of about 54.3 million Filipino voters, there are 27,896,668 women voters. That’s 1.7 million more women voters than men. That’s 29.9 million women voters who can be raped. And Rodrigo Duterte, a presidential candidate, makes a disgusting ‘joke’ about it, talking about rape and murder victim Jacqueline Hamill, an Australian missionary who was taken hostage in a Davao City prison, as if she was not a human being,” Guanzon said.
She said that she saw the video where the feisty mayor said that he should have been first to rape the late missionary.
Guanzon said that she will push for a Code of Conduct for Candidates as the poll body’s Gender and Development committee chair.
“As Chair of the Gender and Development Committee of the Commission on Elections, I will propose a Code of Conduct for Candidates, and will reform the election rules to emphasize gender sensitivity and gender equality,” she said.
She also said that the Duterte’s “foul, vile” language cannot be raised as a ground for cancelling the opinion poll frontrunner’s certificate of candidacy (COC).
“Foul, vile language is not a ground for cancelling anyone’s COC. Let voters decide what kind of a person they want to be President, a tough job that requires competence, honesty and mental fitness,” Guanzon tweeted.
READ: Pulse: Duterte pulls away
Duterte draw flak from netizens and rivals after he said in a viral video: “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.”
The 1989 incident which he recalled was a two-day hostage drama in a detention cell in Davao City that left 21 dead.
READ: Hostage-taking haunts old Davao jail
On Tuesday, a statement issued by PDP-Laban said that Duterte was sorry for what he said. However, in an interview with reporters in Iloilo City later that day, he clarified that he did not know that his political party issued a statement and maintained that he will not apologize for his remarks.
“Huwag nyo nang ipilit dahil hindi talaga ako mag-a-apologize (Don’t force it because I will never apologize),” he was quoted as saying. He also emphasized that the remarks were made in an outburst of anger against criminals.
READ: Digong finally says sorry for rape joke
This was not the first time that Guanzon will be locking horns with Duterte and his camp.
During the pendency of the disqualification cases against Duterte, the mayor’s camp asked the Comelec to prevent the commissioner from participating in the proceedings, citing her supposed bias against Duterte.
The Comelec First Division then junked all motions for inhibition filed by Duterte’s camp against Guanzon for lack of merit. CDG
READ: Guanzon stays on Duterte DQ panel