Rodrigo Duterte shocks again, days after causing consternation by joking about the rape of an Australian missionary

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A tough-talking Philippines’ presidential candidate has vowed to kill his children if they ever took drugs as analysts warned his scandalous remarks about raping a missionary could hurt his chances.



Rodrigo Duterte has become the surprise favourite to succeed President Benigno Aquino after making a name for himself in a southern Philippine city infamous for vigilante death squads.

Philippines presidential candidate attacked over rape remarks Read more

The 71-year-old mayor of Davao has promised to crack down hard on the Philippines’ criminals, and during a televised debate Sunday he vowed to be a harsh president if elected next month.

“I am really angry,” he said in the final debate before the 9 May polls. “They say I am a killer. Maybe I am.”

Asked what he would do if he learned one of his children was involved in drugs, Duterte replied: “I will kill him.”

Analysts say his profanity-laced campaign has resonated in a chaotic, high-crime society with limited opportunities for a vast underclass working for a tiny elite.

A poll by Pulse Asia, released Sunday, showed Duterte pulling ahead of his rivals.

But he caused outrage with a recent joke about the jailhouse rape of an Australian lay Christian missionary who was sexually assaulted and killed by inmates during a 1989 hostage-taking crisis in a Davao prison.

Australian Ambassador Amanda Gorely tweeted that “rape and murder should never be joked about or trivialized” and “violence against women and girls is unacceptable anytime, anywhere,” remarks which were backed up by her American counterpart in Manila.

Duterte later angrily asked the two ambassadors to shut up. When asked about the possibility of the US and Australia possibly cutting ties with the Philippines over the issue, Duterte quipped: “If I become president, go ahead and sever it.”

After he came under fire, including from President Benigno Aquino III, for comments that may undermine ties with the US, a huge trading partner, and Australia, which has helped the government forge peace with Muslim rebels, Duterte clarified that his remarks were in response to a hypothetical media question about the possibility of the two allies initiating moves to cut ties with Manila.

Julio Teehankee of De La Salle University said Duterte’s brash pronouncements may have already caught the attention of the US and Australian governments, which are key security allies of Manila.

“I’m not sure if the mayor understands the potential damage that his statement on foreign policy will inflict on the Filipino people, but definitely this will be alarming for the United states and Australia,” Teehankee said.

Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform, also said Duterte’s joke could cost him the elections.



“The rape issue is personal. It touches on family values,” Casiple told AFP.

“I talked to some of his hardcore followers, some of them have already turned away from him.”

Ronald Holmes, head of research institute Pulse Asia, said the furore broke out too late to affect the survey but could affect the final vote.