Hontiveros dares Duterte to follow 'Bawal Bastos' law
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros challenged President Rodrigo Duterte to comply with a recently enacted law prohibiting catcalling, sexist slurs and other forms of sexual harassment in public.
Hontiveros said the passage of the Safe Spaces Act, which is also called the “Bawal Bastos” law, is a reminder to Duterte—whose lewd jokes and treatment of women have sparked outrage in the past—that no one is above the law.
“I challenge the president to follow to the letter the very law he signed and set an example not only as a law-abiding citizen but as a leader who respects everyone,” the measure’s author said Wednesday.
The law penalizes sexual harassment in streets, schools and offices, which include wolf-whistling, groping, misogynistic slurs, as well as uninvited comments or gestures referring to a person’s appearance.
The president is immune from suit during his term.
“Let this be a warning to all sexists, misogynists, gender bigots and sexual harassers, we will no longer tolerate the bastos culture in our country. Whether gender-based harassment is done to women public servants or to ordinary citizens, I expect the full implementation of the law,” Hontiveros said.
Gabriela Party-list on Tuesday said the implementation of the “Bawal Bastos” law would be challenging with Duterte as the chief executive.
“He is the chief propagator of a culture that degrades and objectifies women, and that which exhorts catcallers, sexual offenders and even uniformed personnel to disrespect women. Under this context, implementing the law will certainly be a challenge,” Gabriela said.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, for his part, said no one would be left in government with the passage of the law against sexual harassment.
Bawal Bastos Law: walang matitira sa gobyerno.
— PING LACSON (@iampinglacson) July 17, 2019
‘Duterte first to obey the law’
Malacañang on Monday said the chief executive will be the “first one” to obey the ‘Bawal Bastos’ law.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said Duterte is not being obscene when he cracks lewd jokes and his jokes are meant to entertain the crown and not to offend.
“He never was bastos (lewd). When he cracks jokes, it was intended to make people laugh, never to offend,” Panelo, who was also criticized in 2017 for telling women in a radio interview that he is "better in bed" and claimed to have been told that he "f***s like an 18-year-old" when he was still a bachelor, said.
RELATED: Duterte claims female critics depriving him of his right to freedom of expression
In a TV interview on the supposed joke, Panelo explained: "It should be, ‘I pack my clothes, P-A-C-K.’ They spelled it incorrectly and apparently they didn’t get the joke...When you pronounce ‘pack’ with an F, that’s the joke."
"I told them, ‘I’m telling you this to make you laugh,’ but apparently these writers are obviously anti-administration," Panelo said then.
The 74-year-old president has frequently drawn flak for joking about rape, ordering soldiers to shoot female rebels in the vagina and kissing a married woman during his public events.
‘Victory is ours alone’
Last May, Hontiveros said the proposed measure has lapsed into law. However, a copy of ‘Bawal Bastos’ law released on Monday shows Duterte signed it on April 17.
"I find it odd that after the 'Bawal Bastos' Act lapsed into law last April 19, as confirmed last May by then officer-in-charge Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Malacañang suddenly came up with a copy of the law yesterday signed by President Rodrigo Duterte," the lawmaker said.
Hontiveros said this is either a case of incompetence of the Duterte administration or an attempt to rob women and the LGBT community of their victory.
She also claimed this might be done to “whitewash the president’s unparalleled sexism and misogyny and claim the law as their own achievement leading to the fourth State of the Nation Address.”
“We will not allow ourselves and our hard-fought victory to be used to deodorize state-sanctioned misogyny and gender-based harassment,” Hontiveros said.
She added: “The passage of the Bawal Bastos Law is the victory of women, LGBTs, advocates and legislator-champions. It is ours alone.”
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