Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Sunday said women’s rights group have lost their ability of discerning “reality from a rebuke”.

Panelo’s statement came after women’s right groups Gabriela and #BabaeAko expressed disgust on the statement of President Rodrigo Duterte that he confessed to a priest about touching their maid during his high school year.

“It is unfortunate that in its zeal to promote its advocacy on the protection of women's rights as well as in its obsession to put the President in a bad light, the women's rights group has lost the ability of discerning a reality from a rebuke on the hypocrisy of the priests who molested him and his classmates when they were high school students,” he said.

“He has made up a laughable anecdote to dramatize the fact of sexual abuse that was inflicted on him and his fellow students when they were in high school. He purposely added and spliced the story with vulgarity to characterize the behavior of the priest who insisted to hear more sins during their confessions when there were none,” he added.

According to the spokesperson, Duterte has evolved an “unorthodox and mischievous” method of exposing and criticizing the hypocritical practices of Catholic priest.

“The President will not discard his shocking and amusing out of the box utterances that have been his political signature, which has endeared him to the masses, and which he finds effective in transmitting to the nation his political and social dogmas,” said Panelo.

During his speech last Saturday, Duterte told the story of how they were being abused by a priest while confessing during before their Friday communion.

In his confession as a high school student, Duterte revealed touching their maid while she was sleeping.

Gabriela, in a statement, slammed Duterte for bragging about committing crimes against women.

“The maniac in Malacanang has proven that he had no qualms violating the rights of women, people of lower stature and viewed them as his own personal toy," the group said.

Gabriela said the latest confession of the president proves that he is unworthy of his position and should resign. Ella Dionisio/DMS