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AMID RAPE JOKE CONTROVERSY

Duterte tells Australian ambassador to shut up


Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday told Australian Ambassador Amanda Gorely to shut up as regards the controversial comments he made regarding the rape and death in 1989 of an Australian missionary at a Davao prison.

Duterte asked that the Australian envoy refrain from commenting on fairness when her government couldn't assure the same for Filipinos traveling to Australia.

He said that a 37-year-old Filipino woman was held for 14 days seven months ago in Australia after customs officers suspected her of carrying illegal drugs.

Duterte said she was released after the authorities found out that the medications she was carrying were all legal.

"Do not talk to me about fairness. Kayong mga Australyano. If you cannot be fair to my countrymen, shut up. What is your problem," Duterte said in an election forum at the University of the Philippines campus in Iloilo City.

In contrast, he said that he gave instant justice to Australian missionary Jaqueline Hamill when she was raped and killed by inmates at the Davao City Jail in 1989.

"Your missionary was defiled and raped. What did I give you instant justice. 'Yan patay. Sixteen of them, ayaw niyo pa?" Duterte said.

'Stay away'

It was the second time Duterte called out the Australian envoy for her statements.

“Stay away,” he said on Monday in Bacolod City, addressing Gorely.

Duterte said that the issue was a political one.

“I don't want anyone controlling me,” he added when pressed for comment.

In a campaign sortie last week, Duterte recalled the time when inmates at the Davao jail took hostages, including Australian missionary Jaqueline Hamill.

“Nagalit ako kasi ni-rape? Oo. Isa rin 'yun. Pero napakaganda, dapat mayor muna ang nauna. Sayang,” Duterte said as his audience laughed.

Earlier, Gorely took to Twitter to air her side on the controversy.

“Rape and murder should never be joked about or trivialised. Violence against women and girls is unacceptable anytime, anywhere,” she tweeted.

Duterte initially refused to apologize for his remarks although he admitted that it was said in bad taste.

But on Tuesday morning, Duterte issued an apology, saying he didn't mean to disrespect women.

Second time

The Liberal Party-led coalition on Tuesday said it was the second time that Duterte disrespected other countries in his public pronouncements.

"Mayor Duterte has now insulted two countries. These countries are our friends who accept our OFWs, joined us in making a stand against the theft of our territory, and help us in improving our economy," said Akbayan Representative Ibarra Gutierrez, the coalition's spokesperson, in a statement.

"How will he protect our OFWs if these countries are mad at him?" he asked.

Early this month, Duterte slammed the drug trade in Mexico when he spoke at the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies.

"Bakit pupunta ka ba sa Mexico ngayon? Are you going to Mexico with all the kidnappings and killings there? Drugs. Colombia. Everywhere. America," he had said.

It was at this point that Duterte learned from the organizers that Ambassador Julio Camarena Villaseñor was seating beside his running mate, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, in the audience.

In his statement, Gutierrez accused Duterte of "insulting our allies" but letting China "rape our sovereignty," referring to the local official's earlier statement that he is willing to back down on the sea dispute with China if he is elected president.

"We are not seeing the true colors of Mayor Duterte: No regard for the plight of Filipinos, so long as he comes out as the hero," Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez’s statement came as Duterte kept the lead in the latest preference survey of Pulse Asia with 32 percent, a seven-point margin against Senator Grace Poe, who got 25 percent.

Vice President Jejomar Binay and administration standard bearer Manuel “Mar” Roxas II were statistically tied at third with 20 percent and 18 percent, respectively; while Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago had one percent. —Cedric Castillo, Trisha Macas and Kathrina Charmaine Alvarez/KBK/NB/JST, GMA News

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