Duterte Harry’s jokes create chilling prospect
Human rights groups reacted this week with shock and outrage to a speech by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.
Addressing a group of 200 surrendered communist rebels, the president played for laughs as he described new directives for soldiers who encounter female insurgents: “We will not kill you. We will just shoot you in the vagina.”
Shock and outrage, of course, are the expected responses. Failure to react this way would help normalize behaviour the world must continually reinforce is nowhere near normal.
But shock and outrage are woefully inadequate tools to address the intersection of state brutality and sexual violence.
In truth, we are becoming inured to shock by a figure who rose to power on promises to kill tens of thousands of criminals and feed them to the fish. Or perhaps we are shocked but not surprised, an expression we have heard so frequently in the wake of one political low after another, dragged down by the current of global populism.
During his Feb. 7 remarks, Duterte also told the female rebels: “If there are no more private parts, you would be useless.”
He went on to question why women would “abandon” their families to join the insurgency, attempting to persuade them of the futility of their cause.
One supposes these would be the same insurgents Duterte expected to hunt down with 16 Canadian-made Bell 412 helicopters that were, until recently, all set to be manufactured in Mirabel, Que.
When human rights concerns prompted a federal review of the $300-million deal, Duterte declared he would cancel the purchase and discourage his armed forces from sourcing contracts from Canada or the U.S., bristling: “There is always a condition attached.”
This president does not like to be questioned. Impunity is his brand.
In 2016, as he campaigned for the presidency, the former mayor of Davao had a laugh at the expense of an Australian missionary who had been gang-raped and killed by prisoners.
“She was so beautiful, the mayor should have been first,” he quipped. “What a waste.”
When the U.S. and Australian ambassadors condemned the statement, Duterte told them to “shut up,” CBC reported.
Last year during a crackdown on terrorism on Mindanao island, while warning soldiers against committing abuses under martial law, he jokingly suggested if any of them were to rape three women, he would take the fall.
Duterte’s supporters say Filipinos accept his bawdy humour. But there is evidence not all of his “lighthearted” remarks about protecting law enforcement from prosecution are dismissed as comedy by the people who carry the guns.
Amnesty International has raised concerns police in the Philippines are acting in “a culture of almost total impunity.” At least 4,000 people have been killed by police in anti-drug operations since Duterte’s 2016 election. During 22 years as mayor of Davao, he also cultivated a reputation for harsh tactics in the war on drugs, earning the nickname “Duterte Harry.”
Since his landslide election victory, the president continues to enjoy high approval ratings and is the star of dozens of combat- and execution-themed gaming apps.
Last week, the International Criminal Court announced a preliminary examination into alleged extra-judicial killings during antidrug campaigns. Duterte maintains suspects died resisting arrest. The current ICC action is not an investigation, prosecutor Fatou Bensoude clarified in a statement, but rather an examination to determine if an investigation is warranted.
In an atmosphere where state forces feel empowered to act above the law, it’s beyond irresponsible to encourage sexual violence, even in jest. The world is not merely shocked and outraged. We are afraid of what could happen next.