Philippine prez candidate widens lead despite rape comment

Philippine presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte has widened his lead over rivals despite remarks about the rape and murder of an Australian missionary which sparked protests from diplomats, the Catholic church and women's groups.
Duterte, the tough-talking mayor of the southern city of Davao, emerged as the "clear frontrunner" in a survey which research institute Social Weather Stations (SWS) released today.
The candidate, who has promised mass killings of suspected criminals, saw his support rise from 27 per cent of respondents in March to 33 per cent in April, giving him a nine-point lead over second-placed Senator Grace Poe just two weeks before the vote.

The survey was conducted from April 18-20, shortly after a video circulated showing Duterte making the remark about the missionary in a campaign hustings event.
Duterte, 71, had told laughing followers that the woman was so beautiful he wished he had been the first in line to rape her -- before she was murdered in a jail riot in his city in 1989.
SWS spokesman Leo Laroza said the apparent joke may have dented Duterte's popularity but did not stop him pulling ahead of his arrivals in the poll of 1,800 voters.

"Mayor Duterte has been steadily gaining ground. It's a clear lead. The joke could have affected him in such a way that his score could have even been higher had it not been for that news," he told AFP.

Francisco Magno, president of the Philippine Political Science Association, said the latest figures showed a substantial voting bloc was attracted to "strong man leadership".
It showed marked sympathy for his "one-issue campaign effort" against crime and illegal drugs, he added.
The survey also indicated that issues like women's rights and human rights in general were secondary for many.
"There is much to be desired about the quality of political education" in the country, Magno said.
He said Duterte also benefited from having three rivals splitting the vote. If the anti-Duterte forces were eventually to unite behind one of them, that might determine the election result, said Magno.

Current President Benigno Aquino, the son of a former president, is constitutionally limited to a single six-year term. His preferred successor Mar Roxas - the grandson of a former president - trails badly in surveys.