Palace: It's more liberal in the south

MANILA, Philippines — Women’s groups on Friday again slammed President Rodrigo Duterte for another remark on rape, saying it encourages sex offenders and puts the blame on women.

Duterte on Thursday said in jest that there are many rape cases in Davao City because it has a lot of beautiful women.

“Ingon sila nga daghang rape ang Davao. Basta daghang gwapa, daghang rape gyud na,” Duterte said in Bisaya during a speech in Mandaue City, Cebu.

(They said that Davao had many rape cases. For as long as there are many beautiful women, there are plenty of rape cases as well.)

The president also said : "Wa ma'y unang nisugot anang kuan. Kana, rape na. Maski gani mag-kuan lang sa sine, mag sige pa'g ana'g kamot. "Ayaw lagi, ayaw." Ka daghang gwapa. Ah makatabi ka ana'g pangag, kinsa ma'y ganahan?"

(Nobody agrees to do it on the first try. That is rape. Even when they’re inside the cinema, she will push him away. “No, don’t.” There are so many beautiful women. But if you happen to sit beside someone toothless, would you still want to do that?)

Data from the Philippine National Police showed that Davao City, Duterte’s hometown, had the highest number of rape cases in the second quarter of 2018 with 42.

Social media users were incensed by the president’s rape remark, saying rape—a heinous crime—is not something that should be joked about.

Gabriela: Duterte shifts blame to women

"President Duterte sends yet again a very dangerous and distorted message in his latest rape remark, that a woman's beauty is a cause of rape," Gabriela Women’s Party said.

It added that by saying that many women in Davao are raped because they are pretty, “President Duterte shifts blame on women, repacks rape as something to be proud of and rolls back women’s rights gains in Davao.”

It added: “Women are raped because of misogynists like Duterte.”

"We reiterate that rape is a crime punishable under our laws, and it occurs only because of the rapist mentality being perpetrated by no less than the President. We strongly condemn this latest flamboyant display of misogyny, which places more Filipino women at risk of rape," it said.

#BabaeAko movement, which often calls out Duterte’s sexist and misogynistic pronouncements and behavior, said that his recent remarks fuels the culture of rape.

“Rape has nothing to do with physical appearance or love. Rape is all about the exercise of power against women. Rape is a heinous crime based on entitlement, on the false assumption that women are chattels, to be owned, to be punished according to the whims of men,” #BabaeAko said.

The movement also said that Duterte’s statement adds insult to the scars of rape victims.

A history of rape remarks

The president has been repeatedly criticized over his vile remarks toward women, saying such comments encourage objectification and violence against women.

Duterte, when he was still campaigning for the presidency, talked about an Australian lay minister rape victim whom he described as beautiful. The then-mayor was denounced for saying that he should “have been first.”

At the height of the fighting in Marawi City, the president told soldiers that he would answer for the consequences of military rule in Mindanao, including cases of rape by soldiers.

When he was in India last January, the chief executive joked of using virgins to lure tourists to the Philippines.

In February, he ordered soldiers to shoot female New People’s Army rebels in the vagina.

Duterte in June kissed a married Filipina worker in South Korea. Women’s groups and other individuals appalled by the president’s action said the move manifested grave abuse of authority and was an awful display of sexism even if the act was consensual.

“Filipino women, with their noble history of struggle and gains achieved, do not deserve Duterte. This country does not deserve a president who willfully breaks our laws and encourages others to do the same, because his notion of power stops at coercive force,” #BabaeAko said.

Palace: It's more liberal in the south

In his defense of Duterte’s latest rape remark, presidential spokesperson used the oft-repeated claim that people in the south “don’t really take things as serious as [people] in Luzon.”

“I don’t think they should give too much weight on what the president says by way of a joke. Some may not approve but I can tell you this already, there is a difference in the sense of humor in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao,” Roque said in a press briefing Friday.

The president’s mouthpiece added: “The standard of what’s offensive and what’s not offensive is more liberal in the south.”