MANILA: Leading Philippine presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday finally apologized for his apparent joke about the rape and murder of an Australian missionary after initially sneering at the widespread outrage he sparked.

Duterte, longtime mayor of the southern city of Davao, told cheering supporters last week that when he saw a female Australian lay minister who was raped and murdered in a Philippine prison riot in 1989, his initial reaction was: “she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first.”

He initially refused to apologize despite widespread condemnation by rival candidates and the public.

However on Tuesday he issued a statement saying: “I apologize to the Filipino people for my recent remarks in a rally. There was no intention of disrespecting our women and those who have been victims of this horrible crime.”

Duterte, who has previously boasted of extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals, defended himself, saying: “I will not apologize for the things I’ve done to protect our people, especially the weak and defenseless, from crime.”