In the latest of a series of offensive remarks, Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte told soldiers on Sunday, February 11, that the women communist rebels should be shot in the vagina, as opposed to outright killing them, since being shot in their private parts would render them “useless.”

Human rights groups in the country have called the statement misogynistic, demeaning and derogatory.  The 72-year-old President, who assumed office in June of 2016, was a longtime mayor before being elected the highest official in the land. On Sunday he said, “Tell the soldiers, “there’s a new order coming from the mayor. We won’t kill you. We will just shoot your vagina’”.

Local media reported that he also said, “If there is no vagina, it would be useless.”

President Duterte’s shocking statement was criticized by Human Rights Watch. As the group pointed out in the statement, the President has made several such remarks in the past, and what he said on Sunday was only the latest one.

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Human Rights Watch representative Carlos Conde said that the remark also “encourages state forces to commit sexual violence during armed conflict, which is a violation of international humanitarian law.”

President Duterte has made similar remarks in years past, for which he has drawn widespread criticism.

In May of 2017, in rallying soldiers who were fighting against ISIS, he said that the soldiers were allowed to rape women, and he offered to take the consequences for it. The context of these remarks was the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao, as well as the pursuit of Maute terrorists. Even his allies called him out for the remarks, which Duterte attempted to pass off as a joke.

The Philippine President said, “For this martial law and the consequences of martial law and the ramifications of martial law, I and I alone would be responsible. Just do your work. I will handle the rest. I will be imprisoned for you. If you rape three (women), I will say that I did it.”

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And during the campaign period for the Presidential elections in 2016, he joked about the 1989 rape and murder of Jacqueline Hamill, an Australian missionary in Davao City, where he served as mayor for many years.

“When the bodies were brought out, they were wrapped. I looked at her face, son of a b***h, she looks like a beautiful American actress. Son of a b***h, what a waste. What came to mind was, they raped her, they lined up. I was angry because she was raped, that’s one thing. But she was so beautiful, the mayor should have been first.”

Later on he issued an apology, saying he hadn’t meant any disrespect toward sexual assault survivors or women in general.

Netizens are understandably shocked at Mr. Duterte’s statement

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Others seemed to take it as merely a joke and is just the way he talks

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Yet others have defended him

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