Davao City mayor to Duterte’s critics over latest rape remark: What have you done to help?

September 2, 2018

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said that the local government has been addressing the rape problem even before the Philippine National Police came out with the recent data showing that President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown has the highest number of rape cases during the second quarter this year.

The presidential daughter issued the statement over the weekend following criticisms to Duterte who jokingly said that the number of rape cases in Davao City, which reached to 42 from April to June, was high because of many beautiful women.

In a statement, Duterte-Carpio said that through government interventions, the number of rape cases has gone down from 120 rape during the fist semester of 2017, to 95 during the same period this year.

“This positive effect of government action should not be lost in the repertoire of the President and the attacks by those who hate his guts and humor,” she said.

“And I pose this question to all who seemingly want to see President Duterte and Davao City fail — what have you done to help?” she added.

Duterte-Carpio noted that in a meeting last year by the Davao City Peace and Order Council, it was discovered that many of the rape cases in 2017 were "incestuous rape or rape by someone who has a close relationship with the victim such as a neighbor or a friend."

She said the Davao City Social Services and Development Office was tasked to conduct a research and implement programs to curb the rising incidence of this kind of rape.

One of the "most effective" interventions conducted by the city government and its partner agencies, was the targeting of the communities where children are taught about sexuality and sexual abuse, including when a touch by a family member is no longer appropriate and acceptable, she said.

It said that the President sent again "a very dangerous and distorted message" in his latest rape remark that a woman's beauty is a cause of rape.

“Women are raped because of misogynists like Duterte,” the group has said. Ella Dionisio/DMS