VOL. XXX NO. 65 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 MONDAY : APRIL 18, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph
Bongbong absent at debate, is hit anyway
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DUTERTE’S RAPE JOKE GOES VIRAL By Christine F. Herrera, Sandy Araneta and John Paolo Bencito
LEADING presidential candidate Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who runs on a hardline anti-crime platform, was condemned Sunday after a video surfaced of him joking about an Australian missionary who was raped and murdered by rioting inmates in his city in 1989.
In the video of speech delivered April 12, Duterte told supporters he got angry at a group of rapists not just because they committed the crime, but because the victim was so beautiful, “the mayor should have been first.” “When the bodies were brought out, they were wrapped. I looked at her face, son of a bitch, she looked 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 should have been first. What a waste,” the mayor added to laughter from the crowd. Duterte, who boasts of the extra-judicial killings of suspects by vigilantes during his time in Davao, was the preferred candi-
date in the run-up to the May 9 election, according to the latest opinion survey on April 3. His rivals, women’s groups and commentators on social media quickly denounced his remarks. President Benigno Aquino III’s spokesman Herminio Coloma Jr. said the comments show “his lack of fitness for the presidency” and his “utter lack of respect for women.” Next page
Women’s rights. Vice President Jejomar Binay, wearing traditional indigenous people’s attire, signs a covenant calling for equal rights and respect for women during a campaign sortie in Zamboanga City on Sunday.
Palace: No scheme to cut off electricity
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LP leaders’ new tack: Envelopes for cheers By John Paolo Bencito TO GET an unenthusiastic crowd to roar, Liberal Party officials in North Cotabato were seen bribing audiences with envelopes—presumably filled with cash—just to cheer for administration candidate for president Manuel Roxas II, who made the rounds in the province on March 30.
A two-minute video, uploaded by Kutangbato Vlogger through Facebook, showed an unenthusiastic crowd in Pikit, North Cotabato, practicing the chants “Roxas na, Oras na!” to prepare for his visit. Roxas earlier in the day met with the central committee of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, where he signed a
peace covenant. An emcee, who was not satisfied with the performance of the crowd, warned the crowd consisting of local officials and beneficiaries of the 4Ps government dole program who gathered at the Pikit Municipal Gymnasium that they would not be given their envelopes if they did not cheer well for Next page Roxas.