PHILIPPINES
Crux
By Max Bearak
Associated Press May 13, 2016
Throughout Rodrigo Duterte’s presidential campaign, it didn’t much seem like the renegade Davao City mayor cared if what he was saying was offensive or politically correct. He “joked” about not getting the chance to rape an Australian minister who was taken hostage, sexually assaulted and killed in his country in 1989. He also said he’ll execute 100,000 criminals.
And, while Pope Francis was visiting Manila last January, causing massive traffic jams in the capital, Duterte said he felt like calling up the spiritual leader of most of his country’s population and telling him: “Pope, son of a whore, go home! Don’t visit anymore.”
But now that he’s been elected, his tone, at least toward the pope, has softened.
On Thursday, Duterte’s spokesman said a trip to Rome was in the works, during which the then-president would “explain to the pope and ask for forgiveness.” He didn’t include a schedule, but said that it was one of Duterte’s “top priorities.”
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