Over the weekend, Pres. Duterte’s latest rape joke during a speech angered many people. While some government officials found it harmless (it’s not), we’d like to applaud the three women who recently voiced out their disapproval—Vice-President Leni Robredo, former first daughter Chelsea Clinton, and actress Agot Isidro.
VP Robredo was none too pleased with Duterte’s message to the troops, saying that it’s disrespecting the job that they’re about to do in Mindanao. “It is an injustice to our soldiers that what’s being implied is because it is martial law, they are already thinking, or that they have the license, to commit a crime as heinous as rape,” she said.
“It is not good to make a joke about rape because this is the time when our soldiers need our support. This is the time when we have to give our highest respect to them that they need,” Robredo added. “This is the time to reassure our people who are now anxious that [the abuses] would not take place.”
Robredo also emphasized that “whoever commits the crime will be jailed.” You know, just in case one person heeds the president’s insensitive statement.
Meanwhile, Agot—who’s harshly criticized Duterte before—simply tweeted out “Rape is never funny” last Sunday. She also didn’t want to deal with demeaning tweets from supporters of the president.
Lastly, Chelsea didn’t mince words when she called Duterte “a murderous thug with no regard for human rights.”
Despite the hate and criticism that these women are getting right now, it’s good to know that they are standing firm against both rape culture and terrorism. As of writing, Duterte hasn’t apologized for his statement nor addressed the issue properly.
Nevertheless, if there’s anything we learned from these three women, it’s to never stop speaking up when someone is wrong—that includes our president.
Photo courtesy of Philippine Canadian Inquirer
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