Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre. NI脩O JESUS ORBETA/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Get used to it.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Monday gave this rather flustering advice to those criticizing President Duterte for his penchant for making rape jokes.
He also urged the public not to make a big fuss over the issue, saying 鈥渁 joke is a joke.鈥�
鈥淲e should get used to the President鈥檚 mouth. Let鈥檚 not blow it up,鈥� Aguirre said in a press briefing.
鈥淪ome say we should not joke about rape. But we should know when the President is stating a hyperbole. Do not capitalize on it,鈥� he said in English and Filipino.
Instead of taking Mr. Duterte to task, Aguirre said it was important for people to 鈥渟upport what the President was doing鈥� and his decision to place Mindanao under martial law.
The tough-talking President, who had previously drawn flak several times for making sexist remarks in public, again found himself in the crosshairs of netizens who lambasted him for telling soldiers in Iligan City on Friday that he would still support them if they raped up to three women while implementing martial law.
Injustice to soldiers
Vice President Leni Robredo called Mr. Duterte鈥檚 remarks 鈥渁n injustice to our soldiers.鈥�
鈥淚t is not good to make a joke about rape because this is the time when our soldiers need our support. This is the time when we have to give them the highest respect that they need,鈥� Robredo told reporters.
The President joking about rape 鈥渄oes not help鈥� the current security situation, she added. 鈥淭his is the time to reassure our people who are now anxious that [the abuses] would not take place.鈥�
Sen. Grace Poe said in a TV interview that 鈥渞ape is never a funny joke and it should never [be] a joke.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檝e done so much in the past years to elevate the stature of women and our role in society and nothing should undermine that,鈥� the senator said.
Poe said she realized the President cracked jokes depending on his audience. 鈥淪o he feels that with the soldiers, it will be funny,鈥� she said.
鈥淏ut I think even soldiers now should learn what is acceptable and what is not,鈥� she added. 鈥�WITH REPORTS FROM NIKKO DIZON AND MAILA AGER
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