Earlier in April, Davao City Mayor and Philippine presidential candidate Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte made headlines for a horrifying “joke” he made at a campaign rally.
While referencing a 36-year-old Australian lay minister named Jacqueline Hamill, who was held hostage, raped, had her throat slashed and was shot in 1989, he said, “I was angry because she was raped, that’s one thing. But she was so beautiful, I should have been first. What a waste.”
And yes, he was referring to himself.
Here’s the full text of the widely condemned comments, translated by Rappler:
All the women were raped so during the first assault, because they retreated, the bodies they used as a cover, one of them was the corpse of the Australian woman lay minister. Tsk, this is a problem. When the bodies were brought out, they were wrapped.
]I looked at her face, son of a bitch, she looks like a beautiful American actress. Son of a bitch, what a waste. What came to mind was, they raped her, they lined up. I was angry because she was raped, that’s one thing. But she was so beautiful, the mayor [him at the time] should have been first. What a waste.
Twitter users expressed a range of feelings, from shock to anger to disgust. “Disgusting,” many different users tweeted. The hashtag #RapeIsNotAJoke cropped up on Twitter as a result.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...e-widens-lead/
