Duterte Opens Female Empowerment Event By Calling 'B*tches' Crazy

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte chose quite the words to express his gratitude for the women who received the Outstanding Women in Law Enforcement and National Security of the Philippines award early this week.

Speaking to a predominantly female crowd at Malacanang Palace, Duterte started by addressing the women as "puta", which translates to "bitch" or "whore."

He continued to call the group "crazy women" and said: "you know you women are depriving me of my freedom of expression. You criticise every sentence or word I say, that is my freedom to express myself."

[...] To make matters worse, he tried to justify himself by saying "I love women. That's why you see I have two wives, that means I like women," the Guardian reports. His disrespectful comments were met with light laughter and awkward silence.

Duterte continues to enjoy high satisfaction ratings in the Philippines, with latest surveys showing 76% of Filipinos are satisfied with his administration. Ironically, he also got an "excellent" rating for "promoting women's rights."