Duterte apology insincere – Roxas

Denunciation of presidential survey front-runner Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte over his rape comment continued yesterday with Liberal Party presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II calling his apology insincere.

“The real Duterte is what the entire nation and the world saw when he cursed Pope Francis over traffic. The real Duterte is who we saw when he debased the Australian missionary who was raped and killed. The real Duterte was the one who refused to apologize for what he said,” Roxas spokesman Akbayan party- list Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez said in a telephone interview.

He noted Duterte had initially refused to apologize immediately after the video of his rape joke drew condemnation.

“So now he was caught in his brutish statements, his handlers are now trying hard to do damage control. If he wasn’t caught on video, I doubt that he’ll apologize,” he said.

“Apologies are not enough. What happens if someone innocent is killed? Is it enough to say sorry?” he said.

“This kind of uncouth statements will happen again, and I hope it will not put our country in danger,” he said.

Duterte has been fiercely criticized for his remarks about an Australian missionary who was gang raped and murdered during the 1989 Davao prison hostage crisis.

In one of his sorties, Duterte joked that Jacqueline Hamill, the victim, was beautiful and that as mayor, he should have been the first in line.

Australian Ambassador Amanda Gorely tweeted on Monday that rape and murder should never be joked about or trivialized.

In response, Duterte called on the Australian government to stay out of Philippine politics.

Gutierrez scored the mayor for reacting strongly to the Australian ambassador’s tweet.

“Is this the president we want? How will he protect our OFWs if these countries are mad at him? Why is Mayor Duterte insulting our allies but he lets China rape our sovereignty?” Gutierrez said, referring to Duterte’s reported readiness to appease China over its maritime spat with the Philippines.

“We are now seeing the true colors of Mayor Duterte: no regard for the plight of Filipinos, so long as he comes out as the hero,” he added.

Early this month, Duterte criticized the killings and kidnappings in Mexico in the presence of its ambassador during an event of the National Association of Independent Travel Agencies in Pasay.

Duterte apologized after being informed of the presence of Mexican Ambassador Julio Camarena Villaseñor in the audience.

Gutierrez said Duterte has already insulted two countries.

“These countries are our friends who accept our OFWs (overseas Filipino workers), joined us in making a stand against the theft of our territory and help us in improving our economy,” Roxas’ spokesman said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has also expressed concern over Duterte’s remarks.

In a statement, the DSWD stressed that women and girls deserve respect and protection. It reiterated its mandate to rehabilitate and empower victims and survivors of violence.

“Rape as a violation of human rights is unacceptable. No one, regardless of age, sex, physical appearance, social status, race, sexual orientation or even profession, deserves to be raped,” the DSWD said.

“We maintain centers and institutions that provide services geared towards this end,” it added.

“Rape is a serious and traumatic experience. Using it as a subject of a joke is an insult to the survivors and their families,” it pointed out.

“If we cannot be instruments towards their healing, the least we can do as citizens is to be cautious of our words and actions,” the DSWD statement read.

This developed as women’s groups are set to file today with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) a complaint against Duterte for what they called his callous, derogatory and insulting treatment of women, particularly his joking about the rape and killing of Australian missionary Hamill.

Jean Enriquez of the Coalition Against Trafficking of Women in Asia and the Pacific said Duterte’s statement has left many victims of sexual abuse even more traumatized.

“His remarks were unreasonable and unjust, and it’s not true that all men share this mentality and behavior, especially those born poor,” Enriquez said in Filipino at a forum at Miriam College.

She said Duterte’s remarks “opened deep wounds” as they “promote the rape culture.”