MANILA, Philippines - President-elect Rodrigo Duterte was accused yesterday of sexual harassment and disrespecting women after giving a female journalist a wolf whistle during a nationally televised press conference.
Duterte, 71, interrupted a question from GMA-7 reporter Mariz Umali on Tuesday night about his Cabinet appointees with a light-hearted comment about her trying to get his attention. He then gave a wolf whistle and broke into a short serenade.
Umali continued trying to ask her question as Duterte smiled and some other reporters laughed.
In an interview with her GMA network on Thursday, Umali described his remarks as “improper.”
While Umali said she would not ask for an apology and sought not to inflame the controversy, her journalist husband took to Facebook to criticize Duterte.
“Catcalling my wife is wrong in so many levels,” husband Raffy Tima wrote.
“Some jokes are funny and should be laughed at, but disrespecting women is definitely not one of them.”
However, incoming presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo told ABS-CBN News that Umali should instead take Duterte’s whistling as a compliment.
“Mayor Duterte is a very kind, playful individual,” the spokesman said. “When he whistles, that means he’s fond of you… On the contrary, the receiver of that should be complimented.”
At the same press conference, Duterte created another controversy by saying there was justification for killing corrupt journalists, and that one “rotten son of a bitch” reporter deserved to have been murdered.
Duterte, an incendiary politician who won last month’s elections by a landslide on a pledge to end crime by killing tens of thousands of criminals, has previously been criticized for comments about women.
On the campaign trail he made a joke about wanting to rape a “beautiful” Australian missionary who had been sexually assaulted and murdered in a 1989 prison riot in his hometown of Davao.
When his daughter reacted to those comments by revealing she had been raped, Duterte described her in jest as a “drama queen.”
Duterte, whose first marriage was annulled and is in a long-term relationship with another woman, has also openly boasted about having mistresses and using Viagra to have sex with them.
Aida Santos, president of local women’s rights groups WeDpro, said Duterte’s wolf whistling was a form of sexual harassment.
“Catcalling treats women as sex objects... some say it’s a way of being cute but it’s wrong,” Santos told AFP.
Duterte and his aides have repeatedly said such controversial comments and actions should not be taken too seriously: that he is a straight-talker and an authentic character who likes to joke and speak the language of the streets.
They also point to his pro-women policies in Davao, which he has ruled as mayor for most of the past two decades.
However, Duterte’s jokes sent messages to society, according to Elizabeth Angsioco, national chair of the Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines.
“His words and actions reinforce looking at women as second-class citizens,” she said.
Women leaders hit Duterte
Meanwhile, women leaders of the Liberal Party and the Mamamayang Liberal joined women advocates yesterday in calling out and condemning Duterte for his sexist and offensive acts.
“From his now world-infamous rape-slay comment to his most recent catcalling on a female broadcaster in a live press conference, Mayor Duterte’s words and actions betray a wanton disrespect for the rights and dignity of women,” the group said in a statement.
The statement was signed by Dinagat Islands Rep. Kaka Bag-ao, Batanes Rep. Henedina Abad, Occidental Mindoro Rep. Josephine Ramirez-Sato, Commodores Dioky Granada and Ibarra Malonzo, lawyer Herminio Bagro II and Jose Morales.
“While Mayor Duterte is known for talking tough, rough and foul, we nevertheless expect more from an incoming president who has called all sectors for unity and healing,” the group said.
“For every catcall casually made, abuse is normalized and the victims are silenced. Catcalling and rape jokes are key features of patriarchy, functioning to desensitize society to violence against women and to reproduce sexual entitlement in men.”
“Duterte’s words only reinforce the regressive culture of patriarchy, which culture sadly reared its ugly head even more when his catcall was met with some jeering and laughter from others inside the room and even now in social media,” the group said.