Duterte slammed for latest rape joke, may face charges after term

A women's rights advocate on Friday said her group is mulling filing a complaint against President Rodrigo Duterte over his statements about rape once his term is over.

In an interview on Balitanghali, Jean Enriquez, co-initiator of #BabaeAko and executive director of Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific, appealed to Duterte to stop making statements that seem to encourage rape.

"Napapanahon na para tigilan n'yo po ang inyong maling pananalita [dahil] ito ay hindi nakabatay sa pananaliksik, sa matuwid na pag iisip," she said.

Enriquez was reacting to Duterte's joke, made during a speech in Mandaue City on Thursday, that Davao City has high incidents of rape because there are a lot of beautiful women there.

"Hindi dapat kayo nagto-tolerate ng panggagahasa o nagpapalaganap ng rape culture," she said.

Enriquez said they may file the complaint once Duterte is done with his term and therefore no longer has immunity from suits.

"Nagpaplano kaming magsampa ng reklamo sa Commission on Human Rights, pero may immunity siya sa ngayon," she said. "Malamang gagawin ang pagsasampa ng kaso kapag wala na siyang immunity."

'Maling-mali'

Enriquez said Duterte, being the highest elected official in the country, has the responsibility to uphold the dignity of women.

She said abuse against women persists because the country’s leader continue to blame the victim for what happened to her.

"Maling-mali ang pangungusap ng Pangulo. Lagpas na sa sapat ang naririnig sa kanya. Ang panggagahasa ay hindi tungkol sa itsura ng babae, ito ay tungkol sa mentalidad na nanggagahasa na karamihan ay pinalaki sa isang kultura na tinitignan ang mga babae bilang sex object o parausan," she said.

"Nagpapatuloy ang rape culture na meron tayo lalo na pag ang nagsasalita ay ‘yung mga matataas na opisyal ng ating pamahalaan. Nagkakaroon ng takot ang mga biktima na magreport dahil ang blame ay nasa biktima, sa kanyang itsura, pananamit, o pagkilos kaya lalong nagdidiscourgae ang victims to report rape."

Not the first time

In a press statement, the women behind #BabaeAko campaign said Duterte’s recent remark was not the first time he encouraged rapists and put the blame on women.

The group said in his presidential campaign, Duterte joked that as mayor, he should have been first to rape a foreign missionary.

It said the President also once called his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, a "drama queen" when she confessed to an experience of sexual assault.

"He has joked of pardons for soldiers who rape. He has offered Filipino ‘virgins’ to filthy foreigners with purchasing power. Duterte sees women’s sexuality as their sole reason for existence. Thus, his order for soldiers to shoot women rebels in the vagina, so they become ‘useless'," they said.

They said Filipino women do not deserve Duterte, whom they described as having a "rapist mentality." —KBK, GMA News