MANILA, Philippines – Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justice Amy Lazaro-Javier said on Thursday, June 14, that she doesn’t see President Rodrigo Duterte as “an enemy of women.”

The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) interviewed Javier for her application to be the next associate justice of the Supreme Court (SC). Javier had been shortlisted thrice for the position, and bypassed as many times.

Asking a question posted on Twitter for the aspirants, JBC member Milagros Fernan-Cayosa asked Javier if she saw Duterte’s “predilection for male appointees” as having a negative effect on her chances.

“I do not see the President as an enemy of women, I see him as a person who respects and loves his late mother, who he credits to have unconditionally loved him, and brought out the leader that he is. I would like to see him as a father who cares for his daughters, a person who founded several shelters for abused women and for children who are girls who are victims of incest,” Javier said.

Duterte had earlier said that his next appointee for the Ombudsman post would not be a woman, prompting more criticisms against the President who has uttered sexist remarks in the past, including shooting female rebel fighters in their vaginas.

Filipino women have recently launched the #BababeAko (I am woman) campaign to fight back against Duterte, who they call a misogynist leader. (READ: Duterte’s word war with women)

Javier disagreed.  “I see the President to be reasonable and I am confident that if I be accorded the honor of being nominated for the post, the President will pass upon my qualifications on the merits and not because I am a woman and not a man,” she said.

Asked about her position on federalism during the interview, Javier said she favored it because “it will improve the economy and judicial system in the country. The idea is to diffuse the powers of the state to a group of self-sustaining provinces.”

Javier was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2007. She teaches constitutional law. – Rappler.com