Philippine President Duterte Says His Job Is ‘Not For Women’

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said women could not do his job because of their “emotional setup,” adding to a long list of appalling sexist remarks from the 75-year-old leader.

Speaking in a live television broadcast, Duterte made the comments while advising his own daughter not to run for the presidency in 2022 presidential elections, a possibility that political observers have floated.

“This is not for women,” Duterte told government officials and businessmen at the launch of a major road project in Manila. “They are urging my daughter to run. I said, ‘my daughter is not running.’ I would feel sorry to see her go through what I experienced.”

“The emotional setup of a woman and a man is totally different. You will become a fool here,” Duterte continued.

Sara Duterte-Carpio, 42, who succeeded her father as Davao City Mayor, has proven to be an influential figure in national politics since Duterte clinched the presidency. In a recent opinion poll about presidential candidates, she was at the top of the list.

But Carpio-Duterte told local media she did not intend to run for president and that her father was pleased to hear it.

Duterte is infamous for misogynistic outbursts and lewd comments that regularly spark outrage in the country and abroad. He has kissed a married woman on the lips on stage, ordered the military to shoot female insurgents in the vagina, and made several rape jokes. Vice-President Leni Robredo is often the subject of Duterte’s sexist attacks. His office usually dismisses criticism of the remarks by saying the president is kidding.

Philippine Senator Risa Hontiveros condemned the comments in a widely circulated tweet.

“Filipino women have endured and overcome more than his presidency, and we will help take it back for a more worthy administration,” she said.

Two women have served as president in the Philippines. The first was Corazon Aquino, who rose to the position immediately after dictator Ferdinand Marcos was toppled in 1986. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who replaced an ousted president in 2001 and was elected in 2004, was the longest-serving president in the country’s history. 

“The statement that a woman, any woman, is not fit to lead a country flies in the face of the current reality that it is countries around the world with women leaders that have most commendably managed the COVID-19 pandemic,” Nathalie Africa-Verceles, director of the University of the Philippines Center for Women's and Gender Studies, told VICE World News.

“It is time to stop devaluing the feminine and start recognizing their invaluable contributions to society and human well-being. Emotions are a source of strength, not weakness.”