PH President Duterte tried to grope domestic helper's crotch during birthday celebration

On the 00:28 time stamp, the Philippine president’s hand gestured in direction of the helper’s crotch, however she retreated. She was additionally holding one other smaller birthday cake.

Philippine officers defend groping as having “no malice”

Netizens have slammed the video, denouncing the act as groping. Authorities officers have spoken on the difficulty since, saying that there was “no malice” within the president’s actions, and providing numerous causes as to why the gesture was innocent.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque addressed the general public clamor relating to the incident, saying that the president was recognized for his jokes. He additionally stated that the home helper has been with the Duterte household for years, and was used to such remedy.

He additionally added that because the president’s common-law spouse was current on the desk and noticed the incident, that there was no malice with what occurred. Roque talked about that complaints from the general public about what occurred within the video had been invalid, and that solely the home helper in query or different folks in the identical home had the correct to talk up.

“Matagal niya nang kasambahay yun, eh (That lady has been his house helper for a long time now),” he stated.

“Alam niyo naman talagang palabiro ang ating Presidente pero wala pong malisya yun dahil nakaharap naman po doon si Ma’am Honeylet (You know that the President likes to crack jokes but there was no malice there since Ma’am Honeylet was there),” he added, referring to Duterte’s common-law spouse Honeylet Avanceña.

Duterte admitted to molesting a maid, made rape joke a few nun

This was not the Philippine president’s first rodeo with sexual harassment controversies. In a CNN Philippines report from 2018, the president talked about a disturbing incident involving his teenage self and their feminine helper. The occasion was a speak about land distribution.

The report stated, “Duterte claimed he told a priest in a confessional that he went into the maid’s room and reached under her blanket, according to a transcript of the remarks, made in a mixture of Filipino and English, posted on the Philippines Presidential Communication Office’s website.”

Authorities officers stated that the president had “made up” the story for the priest’s profit within the confession sales space.

Feedback made by the president about rape additionally resurfaced, together with a well known incident the place the former-mayor Duterte (he served because the mayor of Davao Metropolis, Philippines for 22 years earlier than changing into the president) lambasted a feminine Australian missionary who was additionally a nun, that ran afoul of presidency authorities.

The viral video that was uploaded on a number of YouTube accounts featured the presiden saying, “P***** i**, sayang ito. Ang nagpasok sa isip ko, nirape nila, pinagpilahan nila doon. Nagalit ako kasi nirape? Oo, isa rin ‘yun . Pero napakaganda, dapat ang mayor muna ang mauna. Sayang,” he added.

(Son of a b****, what a waste. I used to be pondering that they raped her and lined up. I used to be offended as a result of she was raped, that’s one factor. However she was so stunning, the mayor ought to have been first, what a waste.)

President Duterte turned 76 years previous on March 28, and was stated to plan to fly again to the nation’s capital after celebrating.