Human rights watchdogs and women’s groups have condemned Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte for his horrific remarks about female communist rebels in the country.
In a speech last Wednesday, Duterte said that female guerillas should be shot in the genitals for fighting the government.
“Tell the soldiers, ‘There’s a new order coming from the mayor,’” the president declared, The New York Times reports.
“We will not kill you. We will just shoot you in the vagina.”
He added: “If there is no vagina, it would be useless”.
Carlos Conde, a Human Rights Watch representative in the Philippines, slammed the president’s remarks.
“It encourages state forces to commit sexual violence during armed conflict, which is a violation of international humanitarian law,” he said, Aljazeera reports.
Emmi de Jesus, an MP representing the Gabriela Woman’s Party declared that Duterte’s remarks take “state terrorism against women and the people to a whole new level”.
This is not the first time the president has made international headlines for his outrageous comments since taking office in 2016. In July 2017, Duterte joked about the rape of Miss Universe and he also made flippant comments in 2016 about the rape and murder of an Australian missionary by inmates.
“I was angry because she was raped. That’s one thing. But she was so beautiful. The mayor should have been first,” he said of the horrific incident in Davao City in 1989.
Duterte has also suggested that the offer of 42 virgins could be used to attract tourists to the Philippines.
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