Filipino presidential candidate under fire for joke about the rape of a murdered Australian missionary

A FILIPINO presidential candidate has come under fire for joking about the rape of a murdered Australian missionary — and he’s refusing to apologise.

(FILES) This file photo taken on March 2, 2016, shows Davao City Mayor and Presidential Candidate Rodrigo Duterte speaks to reporters during his campaign sortie in Lingayen, Pangasinan, north of Manila. Leading Philippine presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte, whose campaign promises a ruthless war on crime, was condemned on April 17, 2016 after a video surfaced of him apparently joking about a murdered Australian rape victim. / AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS

A LEADING candidate to become president of The Philippines who came under fire for apparently joking about the rape of a murdered Australian missionary is refusing to apologise.

Rodrigo Duterte, who has been mayor of the southern city of Davao since 1988, made the remarks at a campaign rally, a video of which was posted on YouTube and widely shared on social networking sites.

In the video, he recalled his reaction to a riot by inmates at the Davao jail in 1989, when five missionaries were murdered by the detainees before troops stormed the facility.

Jacqueline Hamill, Australian missionary murdered during a hostage siege in Davao, Philippines in 1989. Picture: Supplied

One of the missionaries assaulted by the prisoners was 36-year-old Australian Jacqueline Hamil, who Duterte recalled as being beautiful.

“There was this Australian lay minister ... I saw her face and I thought: Son of a bitch. What a pity ... they raped her, they all lined up. I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first,” he told the crowd.

But Duterte is refusing to apologise saying his remarks were not a joke, but a narrative of his “utter anger” during the time of the crime.

“Do not make me apologise for something which I did not do. It’s a matter of honour ... I said it in the heat of anger,” he told local media.

Rodrigo Duterte, who has been mayor of the southern city of Davao since 1988, made the remarks about Jacqueline Hamill at a campaign rally. Picture: Supplied

“I am even willing to lose the presidency.”

Senator Grace Poe, a close contender in the presidential elections set for May 9, said Duterte’s comments were “distasteful and unacceptable, and reflects his disrespect for women.”

“No one, whoever she is and whatever her looks may be, deserves to be raped and abused,” she added.

“Rape is a crime and no laughing matter. We should all be outraged at abuses against women.” Many online commentators condemned the comments, while some expressed disappointment after throwing their support behind the 71-year-old mayor, who vowed to rid the country of crime within six months if elected.

Duterte surged in the last public opinion survey on who Filipinos will vote for as president in the elections, overtaking Poe who was the early frontrunner in the contest.