The kiss and Du30’s mouth

Why focus on the kiss when the kisser said, “don’t take that seriously, it’s just to give people fun?”

 Why make a big deal out of that kiss on the mouth when the woman kissed who was reported to have “screamed in joy” later said, “there was no malice in the presidential kiss.”

 Du30’s spokesperson added, it was “an act of endearment, a light moment that is very accepted in the culture of Filipinos,” and the kiss was “what makes the President popular among our people.”

 Is this how low Du30 will go to be popular, Mr. Roque? Also, do not add insult to injury. The crowd that met him, surely, did not represent the totality of our Filipino people in South Korea, in the Philippines or elsewhere in the world? Also, surely, not all Filipinos laugh, clap, and whoop when leaders act like cheap slapstick comedians instead of deserving, dignified representatives and statespersons? Our Filipino culture is also not accepting insults done to our women. As proof, until this administration, our women have ranked high in equality throughout the world.

 Du30’s kiss reminded us of another kiss.

 While He was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, suddenly arrived. A large mob, with swords and clubs, was with him from the chief priests and elders of the people. His betrayer had given them a sign: “The One I kiss, He’s the One; arrest Him!” So he went right up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. “Friend,” Jesus asked him, “why have you come?” Then they came up, took hold of Jesus, and arrested Him. (Matthew 26:47-56). In Luke 22:47-48, this version: “While He was still speaking, a crowd arrived, led by the man called Judas, one of the Twelve. He approached Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus asked him, ‘Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?’”

 That kiss in South Korea was a betrayal of the respect and dignity for women esteemed in Philippine culture and society. The kiss reflected the despicable, unacceptable show of power and control by men over women.

 Senator Risa Hontiveros protested against the “despicable display of sexism and grave abuse of authority” by Du30 who ““acted like a feudal king who thinks that being the President is an entitlement to do anything that he pleases.” Women’s rights group Gabriela criticized the “disgusting theatrics of a misogynist president who feels entitled to demean, humiliate or disrespect women according to his whim.”

 This is not the first time Du30 has disparaged women with his kiss and his mouth. An Associated Press article dated June 5 carried the apt title, “Mouth gets Duterte in trouble again, this time for kiss.”

Remember his April 2016 abominable comment about the 1989 rape and murder of an Australian missionary in Davao City: “Napakaganda, dapat mayor ang nauna.” Then, his promise of “42 virgins” as a tourism “come-on” in India in January, 2018 and soon after, his February 7 speech “that female New People’s Army fighters should be “shot in the vagina.”

May 17, Du30 explained that the next ombudsman “should be someone, whose integrity is admired by people, could not be a politician, especially not a woman.” May 25, he stressed that while he “ is a believer in the abilities of women, some jobs are not for them. Unlike men who are used to brawls and fights since childhood, women, who are prim and proper, easily melt with just one look from their mothers.” Was Du30 speaking from experience with his mother?