A Filipino mayor who built a reputation for fighting crime has apologised for a rape comment that caused a political storm and could dent his chances of winning the presidency in an election three weeks away.
Rodrigo Duterte, the frontrunner in the polls, issued a statement on Tuesday saying he regretted the remark about Jacqueline Hamill, an Australian woman who was raped and killed in a prison riot in 1989.
The video of his comment, made at a recent rally, appeared on YouTube at the weekend but he had until Tuesday refused to apologise.
Hamill was working in a prison in Davao at the time of the riot and Duterte was the city’s mayor.
In the video, Duterte was shown telling a crowd of laughing supporters at a campaign rally: “They raped all of the women … There was this Australian lay minister … when they took them out … I saw her face and I thought, son of a bytch, 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.”
On Tuesday, Duterte, who is the first presidential candidate from the southern island of Mindanao, said: “I apologise to the Filipino people for my recent remarks.
“There was no intention of disrespecting our women and those who have been victims of this horrible crime. Sometimes my mouth can get the better of me. My life is an open book. I am a man of many flaws and contradictions,” he added.
Rodrigo Duterte, the frontrunner in the polls, issued a statement on Tuesday saying he regretted the remark about Jacqueline Hamill, an Australian woman who was raped and killed in a prison riot in 1989.
The video of his comment, made at a recent rally, appeared on YouTube at the weekend but he had until Tuesday refused to apologise.
Hamill was working in a prison in Davao at the time of the riot and Duterte was the city’s mayor.
In the video, Duterte was shown telling a crowd of laughing supporters at a campaign rally: “They raped all of the women … There was this Australian lay minister … when they took them out … I saw her face and I thought, son of a bytch, 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.”
On Tuesday, Duterte, who is the first presidential candidate from the southern island of Mindanao, said: “I apologise to the Filipino people for my recent remarks.
“There was no intention of disrespecting our women and those who have been victims of this horrible crime. Sometimes my mouth can get the better of me. My life is an open book. I am a man of many flaws and contradictions,” he added.
