Despite rape joke, Australia vows to work with Duterte government

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Friday congratulated incoming Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte and vowed to work closely with him in a goodwill gesture that follows an unpleasant episode involving the mayor and the Australian ambassador over a rape joke.

“Australia congratulates President-Elect Rodrigo Duterte on his election as President of the Republic of the Philippines,” Bishop said in a statement.

Bishop said Canberra looks forward to continue working with the new government “to further develop our enduring bilateral relationship and to address shared regional and global challenges.”

Last month, Australian Ambassador to Manila Amanda Gorely expressed dismay about a joke Duterte made regarding the sexual assault and killing of Australian missionary Jacqueline Hamill in 1989.

Hamill, who was ministering at a Davao prison in 1989, was taken hostage, gang-raped and killed by inmates.

A video of Duterte during a campaign sortie circulated online wherein the outgoing Davao City mayor and his supporters made fun of the incident.

Duterte, 71, told his supporters that when he saw Hamill’s corpse, he wished he was the first to rape her after seeing how beautiful she was.

“Rape and murder should never be joked about or trivialized,” Gorely said. “Violence against women and girls is unacceptable anytime, anywhere.”

US Ambassador Philip Goldberg echoed Gorely’s statement, saying  “Any statements by anyone, anywhere that either degrade women or trivialize issues so serious as rape or murder, are not ones that we condone.”

Such comments irked Duterte and told the two envoys to “shut up” as he threatened to sever ties with the US and Australia.

Despite this incident, Bishop said Australia will continue to work with the new government on the alignment their two countries’ economic partnership for “continued economic, governance and social reforms that are important to inclusive economic growth.”

In 2015, Australia and the Philippines signed a comprehensive partnership accord to bolster bilateral trade, development and regional security.

The Philippines and Australia, she said, also “share similar values and interests, including a commitment to democracy, and a determination to work for peace, security and economic growth.”

“We anticipate that the gains of recent years can be sustained and built upon,” Bishop said. —KBK, GMA News