GABRIELA Alliance for Women slammed President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday following the kissing gimmick of the latter during his visit in South Korea.
In a statement that they released, Gabriela said that the lady who got kissed by President Rodrigo Duterte is not the right person to defend the recent action of the Filipino leader.
“It is unfortunate that the woman found it her obligation to publicly defend the act as “no malice”, when it is the President who is duty-bound to explain not only because it was upon his prodding but he is bound, as a public official, by rules of ethics to explain his unruly conduct,” GABRIELA Alliance of Women statement reads.
They also described what the President did as “disgusting theatrics of a misogynist President who feels entitled to demean, humiliate or disrespect women according to his whim.”
Gabriela believes that the recent act of the President is to show to his critics that he can control women anytime he wants.
“It is also his own perverted way of getting back at his women critics, his way of proving he can dominate women at any time, and at any place he chooses,” it said
They also claimed that the President did the gimmick to divert the public from other issues like extrajudicial killings and the rising prices of goods.
“His repeated acts of machismo is meant as entertainment to hide the reality of his rapidly slipping popularity due to the issues of extra-judicial killings, the TRAIN Law and the big-time corruption scandals now plaguing his rule.”
The statement of Gabriela has been released several hours after Philippine News Agency released a video featuring Mrs. Bea Kim, the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who received a kiss from President Rodrigo Duterte.
Kim said that there’s no malice involved when Duterte kissed her on the lips in public.
“Walang malisya ‘yun. Ginawa lang namin yung kiss parang twist lang ‘yun, pampakilig sa mga audience. Walang ibig sabihin ‘yun, promise,” she said.
Meanwhile, the palace said that the recent action of President Duterte was just a “playful act,”.
“Obviously there is no offended party here. The lady who was kissed has clearly expressed the view that she was honored with the kiss,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.
“She did say there was no malice in it and I don’t think we should impute any when the woman herself found no malice in it. It was not an issue to the woman so it was not an issue to the president,” he added.