Rodrigo Duterte calls women ‘bitches’ at gender equality event
Philippines president rebukes audience of female police and military officers for criticising him

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has called a group of female police and army officers “bitches” at an event intended to honour them.
In a speech on Monday, the leader addressed an almost exclusively female audience as “puta” (which translates as “bitch”) and complained that “crazy women” were depriving him of his freedom of expression after he was criticised for telling women to stay away from Catholic priests.
“You criticise every sentence or word I say, but that is my freedom to express myself,” he said
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
However, the 72-year-old went on to say: “I love women. That’s why you see I have two wives.”
The president’s comments were met with light laughter at moments, though mainly silence, according to Hannah Ellis-Petersen, The Guardian’s south-east Asia correspondent.
The speech by Duterte “is just the latest in a series of comments relating to women which have drawn accusations of sexism and misogyny,” she says.
Last year, the leader directed his soldiers to target women rebel fighters by shooting them in the vagina. He has also previously joked about raping women, and pressured a married woman to kiss him on the lips at during a public event in South Korea last June.
The Gabriela alliance, a leftist Filipino organisation that advocates for women’s issues, has called Duterte a “misogynist president who feels entitled to demean, humiliate or disrespect women according to his whim”.
Duterte swept to victory in 2016 on a platform of hard-line authoritarianism, spearheaded by a policy encouraging the extrajudicial killing of people thought to be involved in the drug trade.
He has favourably compared his killing of criminals to Hitler’s murder of six million Jews, spoken in favour of death squads, and admitted live on TV that he had personally killed people.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures A sea of kites, a game of sand hockey, and more
By Anahi Valenzuela, The Week US
-
G20: Viola Davis stars in 'ludicrous' but fun action thriller
The Week Recommends The award-winning actress plays the 'swashbuckling American president' in this newly released Prime Video film
By The Week UK
-
The Masters: Rory McIlroy finally banishes his demons
In the Spotlight McIlroy's grand slam triumph will go down as 'one of the greatest and most courageous victories in the history of golf'
By The Week UK
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across Syria
THE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weapons
The Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
By Abby Wilson
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarray
In the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Ukrainian election: who could replace Zelenskyy?
The Explainer Donald Trump's 'dictator' jibe raises pressure on Ukraine to the polls while the country is under martial law
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK
-
Why Serbian protesters set off smoke bombs in parliament
THE EXPLAINER Ongoing anti-corruption protests erupted into full view this week as Serbian protesters threw the country's legislature into chaos
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Who is the Hat Man? 'Shadow people' and sleep paralysis
In Depth 'Sleep demons' have plagued our dreams throughout the centuries, but the explanation could be medical
By The Week Staff
-
Why Assad fell so fast
The Explainer The newly liberated Syria is in an incredibly precarious position, but it's too soon to succumb to defeatist gloom
By The Week UK
-
Romania's election rerun
The Explainer Shock result of presidential election has been annulled following allegations of Russian interference
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK