Did you see that?
A viral video circulating on Twitter shows President Rodrigo Duterte attempting to grab a household worker by the crotch during his 76th birthday in his Davao City home.
Thankfully, Duterte didn’t get to touch the woman because she moved away. But the image of the chief executive attempting to harass a woman (albeit jokingly) did not sit well with quite a number of Filipinos.
Read: Lockdown! Duterte puts Greater Manila area under ECQ from March 29 to April 4
Watch the video below. The woman Duterte wanted to touch is the one holding a birthday cake. Notice also that there was a child, possibly one of the president’s grandchildren, watching the whole thing happen.
WATCH: Duterte’s “simple birthday celebration” in Davao City. pic.twitter.com/BZ1gp7glvo
— iMPACT Leadership (@iMPACTPH2019) March 28, 2021
Ugh.
Duterte has a history of misogynistic behavior. He once said that soldiers should shoot female rebels in the vagina and that there were many rape cases in Davao because there were many beautiful women living there. In an effort to dissuade his daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte from running for president, he said that women are not suitable for the position, although a lot of people believe it was just for show.
Read: Feminist offers Duterte free gender sensitivity training
But perhaps the grossest thing he had ever done was when he kissed a married overseas Filipina worker during an event in Seoul in 2018. Feminists were aghast, but Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque said that the victim of the kiss was “honored” to receive the president’s smooch.
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