“Australian, American ambassadors: Shut your mouth,” Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said after United States Ambassador to Philippines Philip Goldberg agreed with his Australian colleague Ambassador Amanda Gorely’s statement regarding rape and murder.
“Do not interfere because it’s election time,” Duterte said as quoted by GMA News Online.
“I can only agree with the colleague from the Australian Embassy,” Ambassador Goldberg said in an interview with CNN Philippines.
“I’m not going to get into your elections or comment on your candidates. That’s for the people of the Philippines to decide in election. But, any statements by anyone, anywhere that either degrade women or trivialize issues so serious as rape or murder, are not ones that we condone,” Goldberg added.
“Rape and murder should never be joked about or trivialized,” Australian Ambassador Gorely earlier said in a statement on Twitter. “Violence against women and girls is unacceptable anytime, anywhere.”