President Duterte has blamed the high number of rape cases in Davao on the fact that there are many beautiful women in his home city.
Speaking at the celebration of Mandaue City’s charter day this afternoon (Thursday, August 30), he addressed the issue by saying: “Basta daghang guwapa, daghang rape (If there’s a lot of beautiful women, there are a lot of rapes).” His remark drew laughter from his audience.
According to Philippine National Police figures released this week, the cities with the highest number of rape cases in the second quarter of this year were Davao City with 42; Quezon City, 41; Manila, 32; Cagayan De Oro City, 24; and Zamboanga City, 21.
In an interview broadcast on Super Radyo today, Davao City police chief Senior Superintendent Alexander Tagum gave a different explanation for the rape figures, saying that the crime usually happened inside private dwellings, beyond the reach of police.
The president’s words today were not his first controversial comments about women.
In May last year, while addressing troops fighting at Marawi City, he joked that soldiers could rape up to three women. “I will be imprisoned for you. If you rape three women, I will say that I did it,” he said.
He also stirred outrage when he said he wanted to rape Australian missionary Jacqueline Hamill who had been caught up in a 1989 prison riot in Davao and murdered by the inmates.
“There was this Australian lay minister,” he said in April last year. “When they took them out, I saw her face and I thought, ‘Son of a whore. What a pity. They raped her, they all lined up. I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first’.”
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