Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has gone on a tirade against Philip Goldberg, the U.S. ambassador to the country, calling him "gay" -- meaning it as an insult -- and a "son of a bitch."
Duterte made the remarks last Friday before an audience of soldiers, in the context of a discussion about his campaign for the presidency, to which he was elected in May, reports the International Business Times. Goldberg had criticized the president for comments he made about sexual violence. In his speech to the soldiers, Duterte said he and the ambassador disagreed over a joke Duterte made during the campaign about the rape and murder of Jacqueline Hamill, an Australian missionary, in a 1989 prison riot.
Duterte reportedly brought up U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and said, "I am OK with him," then added, "I quarreled with his gay ambassador [referring to Goldberg]. I am pissed with him. He meddled during the election, giving statements here and there. He was not supposed to do that. That son of a bitch really annoyed me."
The "joke" that Duterte was criticized for making came in April. At the time of the attack on Hamill, Duterte was mayor of Davao City, where the crime took place. "What a pity," he said. "What came to my mind was, They raped her, lined up for her. I was mad because she was raped? Yes. That's one reason. But she was so beautiful. The mayor should have been first."
Shortly thereafter, Amanda Gorely, Australia's ambassador to the Philippines, responded to Duterte's comments by saying violence against women should not be "trivialized," reports the Times.
At that time CNN Philippines, also asked Goldberg about Duterte's "joke." The ambassador said, "I can only agree with the colleague from the Australian Embassy. Any statements by anyone, anywhere that either degrade women or trivialize issues so serious as rape or murder are not ones that we condone."
The president responded to Goldberg, saying he "should not interfere with our national election," reports the Times. He went on to clinch the presidency with nearly 40 percent of the vote.
Goldberg, who has never said publicly that he is gay, was sworn in as ambassador to the Philippines in 2013. At any rate, he is at least an ally; in 2014 he hosted an LGBT Pride reception at the U.S. Ambassador's residence in the nation.
