Give Duterte benefit of doubt – CHR exec

MANILA, Philippines – An official of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) believes incoming president Rodrigo Duterte did not violate the Magna Carta of Women when he uttered his controversial rape remark during a political rally last month.

In his speech, Duterte said he was enraged by the rape and killing of Australian lay missionary Jacqueline Hamill in a hostage incident at the Davao prison in 1989.

He then commented that the victim looked like a beautiful movie actress and that he should “have been first.”

In a two-page separate opinion dated May 23, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR, CHR commissioner Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana said she is inclined to give Duterte the benefit of the doubt that he did not utter the rape comment with malicious intent.

She stressed, however, that the remark was made in bad taste and that it should serve as a strong reminder for the tough-talking mayor that he has to conduct himself in a gender sensitive manner at all times.

Gana is the sister of Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, president of PDP-Laban that fielded Duterte in the recent presidential race.

Last week, the CHR released a resolution finding Duterte to have violated the Magna Carta of Women when he made several remarks about women, including the rape remark, during the campaign.

The commission recommended to the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Civil Service Commission the imposition of appropriate sanctions against the mayor.

But in her separate opinion, Gana said that putting the comment in proper perspective would show that Duterte did not intend it to be a joke.

“The remark uttered was part of a reaction – not to condone the horrible crime that was perpetrated upon the Australian lady missionary – but to express his disgust and anger using gutter language,” read the two-page opinion.

“In fact, his retelling of this incident at a public rally was to demonstrate his willingness, as a leader, to offer his life in exchange for the hostages,” she added.

The CHR commissioner, however, stressed that the rape comment is offensive in whatever context, especially as it came from the mouth of a prominent leader.

“Even if the mayor did not intend it as a joke, the laughter it evoked from the audience in the public rally, as seen in the video clip, resulted in the audience taking it as a joke,” she said.

“We do not go so far as to say that the rape comment would incite others to commit rape or any other forms of physical violence against women, but treated as a joke by others, it tends to objectify women as fair targets for the carnal pleasure of men, no matter what their situation might be: alive or dead,” added Gana.

She also noted that Duterte’s use of offensive words aggravates the pain and suffering that rape victims feel and endure.

“The rape comment heard by rape victims through the Internet dehumanizes their ordeal and even makes them relive the horrors of their experience,” said the CHR commissioner, who also pointed out the need to educate the public to change the social and cultural patterns of gender bias.

Gana said intent should be considered in determining if there was violation of the Magna Carta of Women.

“Given Mayor Duterte’s explanation that he did not utter the rape comment as a joke and his lack of intent to cause harm or suffering to women, it cannot be said, at this point, that his use of gutter language in a political rally amounted to a violation of the Magna Carta of Women,” said the CHR commissioner.

Meanwhile, CHR chairman Chito Gascon yesterday urged Duterte not to take the resolution personally, as the commission is merely doing its job.

Gascon reminded the incoming president that all agencies, including the CHR, have their respective responsibilities as mandated by law.