MANILA, Philippines — Lawyer Edna Herrera-Batacan, the lone woman applicant to be the next ombudsman, defended President Rodrigo Duterte on his remark that Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales' successor will not be a woman.
Batacan, who represented Duterte in a case in 2010, said that the president will not reject an applicant for ombudsman for being a woman.
READ: Next ombudsman won't be a woman, Duterte says
“I think the president loves his mother so much. He loves not only his mother, but the women in his life like Sarah, Elizabeth, the former wife, and then Honeylet, the second wife and Kitty,” Batacan told the Judicial and Bar Council panel in a public interview.
Batacan is one of the ten vying to be the country’s next chief graft-buster.
READ: Ex-lawyers of Duterte, son Paolo assert judicial independence in ombudsman application
Duterte, on May 17, said the next ombudsman should be “someone whose integrity is admired by people.” He added: “Of course, it could not be [a] politician, especially not a woman.”
But Batacan insisted that Duterte, who had openly expressed his disdain for ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and for Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, will use competence as his gauge for determining on who to appoint.
“He loves women so I don't believe that he won't appoint a woman if she is competent," the lawyer said in Filipino.
Close relationship with Duterte
In the same interview, Batacan admitted that she maintains a “close relationship” with the president “because he has been not only my client but also the godfather of my eldest daughter.”
Duterte has landed in headlines around the world for his misogynist statements and his treatment to women, although his supporters excuse these as the president just being himself.
In a speech on Tuesday night, Duterte denied being a "chauvinist pig" and said that he has been kissing women since he was mayor of Davao City.
"I really like girls. Who doesn't?" he said at the Government Service Insurance Service's anniversary celebration. He also said in Filipino that "if we were in Korea, I would have kissed you all."
Earlier this month, Duterte’s mouth again earned him criticism for kissing a married Filipino woman on the lips during an official function in Seoul, South Korea.
The chief executive downplayed the incident and stressed that there was no malice in the act, just done to entertain the overseas Filipino workers in Seoul, where he was on an official visit.
Duterte has also butted heads with women in government such as Sereno, Morales and Vice President Leni Robredo.
The president had also vented his ire at Sister Patricia Fox, a 71-year-old Australian missionary. He ordered an investigation and told the nun, who spent the past 27 years carrying out humanitarian work in the Philippines, to leave the country.
The JBC continues its public interview with four other applicants to the Ombudsman position as of this posting.
FOLLOW: Live updates: Interviews of ombudsman applicants