Duterte to critics: Look at how Davao City treat its women

• Davao City mayor tells off women’s groups who filed a complaint against him


• He touts Davao City’s pro-women measures, says progressive treatment of women unmatched there


• He tells critics to focus less on his tongue and more on what he has done for women

MANILA, Philippines – Reacting to the complaint filed against him at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) by women’s groups for his rape remark, Rodrigo Duterte said he couldn’t care less what women think of him since his pro-women achievements in Davao City can speak for themselves.

“I don’t give a [expletive] kung anong sasabihin ng mga babae. Punta kayo dito, you cannot compare the city to any other. Rehab, rehab para sa babae. Doon sa baba sa bukid na iyon may facility, home for the aged,” GMA News quoted him as saying.

[I don’t give a [expletive] what women say. Come here, you cannot compare the city to any other. There are rehab programs for women. Down in that field is a facility and a home for the aged.]

Aside from the rehab center, Duterte said the city also has a P31-million facility which cares for girls who are rape victims.

He also pointed to the city’s progressive treatment of women as manifested in its women’s code.

“Dito sa Davao there’s a women’s code, the first in the entire Philippines, meron ito bawal any competition sa Kadayawan at Mutya, we prohibit swimsuits, no bikini, no nothing,” he said.

[Here in Davao there’s a women’s code, the first in the entire Philippines, we have prohibitions in competitions during the Kadayawan and Mutya, we prohibit swimsuits, no bikini, no nothing.]

Addressing his critics, Duterte said they should focus more on all the positive things he has done for women.

“Yung maintindihan n’yo lang [The only thing you can understand] are my cuss words. Di n’yo alam na dito sa Davao mauna kami [You don’t know we lead in women’s rights in Davao]. We provide lawyers for battered women. I am still the (mayor of the) only city na may IGDO (Integrated Gender and Development Division) and there are five lady lawyers who handle the cases,” he said.

Kicker Daily News