MANILA // Leading Philippine presidential candidate, Rodrigo Duterte, on Tuesday finally apologised for his apparent joke about the rape and murder of an Australian missionary after initially sneering at the widespread outrage he sparked.
Mr Duterte, the long-time mayor of the southern city of Davao, told cheering supporters last week that when he saw a female Australian lay minister who was raped and murdered in a prison riot in 1989, his initial reaction was: “she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first.”
He initially refused to apologise despite widespread condemnation by rival candidates and the public.
However on Tuesday he issued a statement saying: “I apologise to the Filipino people for my recent remarks in a rally. There was no intention of disrespecting our women and those who have been victims of this horrible crime.”
Mr Duterte, who has previously boasted of extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals, defended himself, saying: “I will not apologise for the things I’ve done to protect our people, especially the weak and defenceless, from crime.”
Many Filipinos have embraced Duterte for his profanity-laced speeches and his promise to get tough on crime. He has vowed to oversee the mass killing of criminals if elected.
On Tuesday, respected research agency Pulse Asia released the results of a survey taken from April 5-10, showing Mr Duterte well ahead of other presidential candidates with 32 per cent of respondents compared to 25 per cent from senator Grace Poe who is in second place.
The survey was conducted before the furore over Duterte’s rape remark.
* Agence France-Presse
