Manila: A leading Presidential frontrunner in the Philippines has made a highly controversial and offensive remark about an Australian missionary who was abducted, gang-raped and later killed in 1989.
According to reports, a video clip had appeared on YouTube which showed Rodrigo Digong Duterte, the mayor of Davao City on Mindanao in the Philippines addressing a rally and recalling a 1989 prison riot in which an Australian missionary was gang-raped and later killed by the inmates who had lined up to rape her.
"I was angry because she was raped, that's one thing. But she was so beautiful, the mayor should have been first. What a waste," Duterte can be seen saying in the video while referring to himself.
The YouTube video showing the mayor making these statements has caused an uproar even in a country accustomed to some raunchy politics.
The controversial video was shot during a campaign rally in Quezon City on April 12, CNN Philippines reported.
In 1989, the inmates of the jail had overpowered the guards and grabbed their weapons, taking 15 people, including 36-year-old Australian Jacqueline Hamill, hostage in 1989.
Hamill had told Rev. Fred Castillo, another hostage who would later escape, that she had been raped by her captors. They also slashed her throat.
As troops stormed the prison, killing 15 captors in a hail of gunfire, Hamill was shot in the neck and died.
Mayor's comments have evoked a sharp response from the Australian Embassy in the Philippines, which said in its Facebook post, ''Rape and murder should never be joked about or trivialised. Violence against women and girls is unacceptable anytime, anywhere."
