Threats to burn Singapore's flag are Philippines presidential candidate's latest 'joke'

With Rodrigo Duterte's April rape joke still ringing in voters' ears, a rep for the Philippines presidential hopeful has cheerfully dismissed his recent threat to burn Singapore's flag as a joke, too.

Duterte is the frontrunner in the country's presidential elections. Last week, he said while on the campaign trail that he would burn Singapore's flag in response to the smaller country deciding to investigate the source of a falsified photo on Facebook depicting Singapore's prime minister endorsing Duterte.

The photo showed Singapore leader Lee Hsien Loong with the caption: "Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is the only presidential candidate that could make Philippines like Singapore."

Duterte was apparently angered by Singapore's firm rejection of the image. His spokesperson, Peter Tiu Lavinia, said on Monday in a Facebook post:

How can a self-respecting country react to such trivial matter and calling for investigation? Now, it has tasted its own dose of medicine when Duterte retorted jokingly that he will burn the Singaporean flag again. It's a tit-for-tat. Only the onion-skinned would actually be affected.

In 1995, he led 1,000 people in burning the Singapore flag.

While Duterte may have been joking this time, he has participated in a Singapore flag burning. In 1995, as mayor of Davao City, he led some 1,000 people in burning the Singapore flag, and called for a boycott of Singaporean goods and investments, in reaction to the execution of Filipino maid Flor Contemplacion, who murdered another maid and a 4-year-old child in Singapore.

It hasn't been very long since Duterte's last "joke" ruffled feathers overseas, either. Just last month, he made reference to a 1989 gang rape of an Australian missionary during his first term as Davao's mayor, and jokingly said he should have participated in it.

According to a CNN translation, he said:

"I was angry she was raped, yes that was one thing. But she was so beautiful, I think the mayor should have been first. What a waste."

The Australian embassy criticised the remark:

As did many on social media:

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Still, Duterte managed to widen his lead in the presidential elections following that incident, with 33% of the polls in late April.

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