Duterte on Goldberg: What’s wrong with being gay?

President Rodrigo Duterte has repeated his claim that United States Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg is "gay."

In a speech delivered in Malacañang after the oath taking of his new appointees and the officers of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) on Tuesday, the President asked if there was anything wrong with being "gay."

"Now, itong si Goldberg, for the second time, totoo eh. What’s wrong if you are gay?" Duterte said once again before recalling his feud with the American envoy over his controversial remarks on the rape of an Australian missionary in 1989.

The remarks were delivered during a campaign rally.

But Australian Ambassador Amanda Gorely reacted on Twitter and said that rape and murder should never be trivialized. Goldberg seconded Gorely's sentiments.

Duterte argued that the envoys should have not meddled in the issue since it was said during the campaign.

"Well, totoo naman ang sinabi ko and had started the ruckus. Siya because he rode onto a statement of mine that was a narration of a true event," the President said in his speech in Malacañang.

But in August, Duterte recalled the issue and called Goldberg "bakla," even after they already met a few times after the President won the election in May.

Goldberg even accompanied US Secretary of State John Kerry during a courtesy call in Malacañang on July 27. — Trisha Macas/RSJ, GMA News