Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is known for uttering controversial statements — and people are now talking about what may be his most controversial statement to date.
As InterAksyon.com reported, this latest fire started when, on Sat, Apr 16, a YouTube user with the handle Beatboxer Ng Pinas posted a video clip with this title: “Duterte on Australian Rape Victim: “Napaka Ganda. Dapat Mayor ang Mauna.”
The clip is only one minute and one second long. It featured a segment where Duterte was talking about the hostage-taking incident that happened at the Davao Penal Colony in Aug 1989.
“According to a report by the Union of Catholic Asian News, 17 missionaries (other reports put the number at 16) had been visiting the jail to hold Sunday service when they were taken hostage by prisoners under the leadership of Felipe Pugoy for almost 48 hours,” added the InterAksyon.com report.
According to a NewsDesk.ph article by Bambit Gaerlan that Duterte’s rape joke was uttered during his campaign rally at the Amoranto Sports Complex in Quezon City last Apr 12, 2016.
The report noted that Duterte had really put himself in the line of fire during the hostage-taking incident. Gaerlan pointed out that Duterte offered himself to the hostage-takers in exchange for the life of a woman and a child.
Unfortunately, 36-year-old Australian lay missionary Jacqueline Hamill was among the 21 people killed (other reports claim 20 casualties) in the hostage-taking incident.
In his Amorando Sports Complex speech, Duterte the recalled that the prisoners attempted to break out of jail using Hamill. He also revealed that Hamill and some other female hostages had been raped by the hostage-takers.
Gaerlan likewise noted that in the interest of being fair, it should be clear that Duterte’s speech at Amorando Sports Complex lasts more than an hour. The rape joke referring to Hamill starts at the 1:17:28 mark.
Duterte begins by remarking that when Hamill’s body was brought out wrapped in a blanket, he was astounded by how beauftiful she was when he pulled back the cover from her face. Amid the audience’s laughter, he says, “Putang ina! Sayang (Son of a whore! Too bad)!”
“Ang napasok sa isip ko, ni-rape nila. Pinagpilahan nila lahat do’n. Nagalit ako kasi ni-rape? Oo. Isa rin ‘yun. Pero napakaganda. Dapat, ang mayor muna ang mauna (What I thought was, they raped them. They lined up to rape her. Was I mad because she was raped? Yes, that’s one of the reasons. But she was so beautiful. The mayor should have been first.).”
Duterte could easily explain this as a joke. But, as much as we respect him for his stellar qualities as a leader, this is the kind of careless remark that he should not make. Rape is not a laughing matter.
