In a shocking display of misogyny, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at attendees at a ceremony honoring women in law enforcement in Manila on Monday. Speaking as the guest of honor before a crowd of female police officers and military service members, Duterte referred to women as “bitches” and said he hoped his words brought his female critics “to the limits of despair.”
Addressing the women in the crowd as “crazy women” and “puta,” which translates as “bitch,” the hardline and often volatile leader ranted that he was exercising “my freedom to express myself.”
The outburst came in the wake of criticism over his recent claim that women should stay away from priests or face the risk of being sexually assaulted by them.
“The women should refrain from going near the priests because when you are near him, he will just smell the scent of your body,” said Duterte on March 8. “And if he corners you in the church, patay ka (you’re dead), he will court you. Do you know why? It’s because he is a man.”
Since becoming president of the Philippines, Duterte has been unapologetic about his misogynistic rhetoric. In February, he incited outrage by claiming that he was ordering soldiers to shoot women rebels in the vagina. In January, he brazenly confessed to sexually assaulting his housemaid while she slept when he was teenager. And those incendiary comments only scratch the surface.
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