Biodun.BBC: Rodrigo Duterte

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Monday, June 4, 2018

Philippines' Duterte stirs controversy by kissing woman on lips

June 4, 2018 01H:32 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Wang Yang and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, Manila

MANILA - A kiss by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on a Filipino woman’s lips while on an official visit in South Korea sparked anger and jokes on Monday, as feminists denounced what they called his “perverted way” of taunting his female critics.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte addresses an event with Filipino community in Hong Kong, China April 12, 2018. REUTERS/Bobby Yip

Many Filipinos, however, thought it was a harmless kiss intended to be fun.

The 73-year-old Duterte, whose critics have labeled him a misogynist and say his comments are derogatory and demeaning towards women, dismissed the kiss as just a “gimmick” to entertain supporters at a meet-and-greet event in Seoul.

Social media was abuzz with photos and videos of Duterte on stage before a crowd of Filipinos on Sunday night, when he asked an unidentified audience member to kiss him in exchange for a book he was handing out.

The woman, who admitted she is married and appeared excited to see Duterte in person, agreed.

Duterte then told the cheering crowd of about 3,000: “Don’t take it seriously. It’s just for fun, a gimmick.”

State-run Philippine News Agency identified the woman as Bea Kim and posted a brief video interview with her on its Facebook page.

“There wasn’t malice in it,” she said. “For me, for him, it didn’t mean anything.”

Duterte’s controversial remarks about women include numerous jokes about rape and have incensed activists and foreigners, most notably, Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former U.S. President Bill Clinton. But none have dented the hugely popular leader’s domestic support.

Women’s rights advocates in the Philippines recently launched an online #BabaeAko (I Am A Woman) campaign to send a message that they were not taking Duterte’s “sexist” statements sitting down.

“You don’t have to kiss that woman if you want to entertain people,” said Joms Salvador, secretary-general of Gabriela Women’s Party.

“The fact that you thought that kissing the woman would entertain people...that’s something really sick.”

Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros said that even though the kiss was consensual, it was a “grave abuse of authority”.

Anna Pinili, a churchgoer who considers herself a devout catholic, said Duterte had good intentions, but could have handled it better.

“He should have kissed her on the cheeks instead,” she said.

Father of two Raymond Pascual said people were making too much of a deal of it, and he thought it was just a “simple kiss”.

Making the rounds also on social media was a spoof photo of the same kiss, but with the woman replaced by superimposed image of China’s President Xi Jinping, in an attempt to poke fun at Duterte’s high regard for his Chinese counterpart.

Sunday, June 3, 2018

Philippines Duterte tells U.N. human rights expert: 'Go to hell'

June 3, 2018 12H:22 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Wang Yang and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, Manila

MANILA - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has told a U.N human rights expert who said the country’s judicial independence was under threat to ‘go to hell’, warning against interference in domestic affairs.

FILE PHOTO: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte points to photographers during an awarding ceremony for outstanding government workers, at the Malacanang Palace in Manila, Philippines December 19, 2016. REUTERS/Ezra Acayan/File Photo

The Philippine Supreme Court voted last month to remove Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, whom Duterte had called an “enemy” for voting against controversial government proposals, citing violations in the way she was appointed.

Her dismissal is sending a chilling message to other supreme court judges and members of the judiciary, Diego García-Sayán, special U.N rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, said on Friday.

“Tell him not to interfere with the affairs of my country. He can go to hell,” Duterte told a news conference late Saturday night, prior to leaving for an official visit to South Korea.

The outspoken Philippine leader is known for defying international pressure and his diatribes against critics.

In particular, he has railed against former U.S. President Barack Obama and U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Agnes Callamard, for criticizing the bloody war on drugs, his signature public safety project.

Sereno, the first chief justice to be removed by her peers, had voted against several of the Duterte’s proposals including the extension of martial rule in the volatile southern Philippines.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018

BREAKING AND UPDATE: Philippine 'castle boys' in shifting sands of Boracay closure

26 April 2018 - 06H00 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Wang Yang and Biodun Iginla, France24, BORACAY (PHILIPPINES)

BORACAY (PHILIPPINES) -

Jessler Magbanua has been sculpting elaborate sand castles for tourist tips on the Philippine resort island of Boracay for years, but now that it is shut for clean-up he will have to switch to mixing cement.

The six-month closure of Boracay to holidaymakers starting on Thursday is forcing thousands of workers employed by the bustling tourist trade to adapt in order to survive.

Magbanua, a so-called "castle boy", said he would look for construction work in the absence of the lucrative business of creating sand art for photo snapping holidaymakers.

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"I will just be doing (manual) labour. I will mix cement," Magbanua, 17, told us at France24 on how he'll adapt.

"There is no other work to be had here. I will just go into construction."

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Boracay closed for clean-up after calling it a "cesspool", saying local business owners were dumping sewage into the island's once pristine waters.

Boracay has been a top Philippine destination, morphing from a backpacker paradise in the 1980s to an increasingly developed beach resort, fuelled by a quadrupling of visitors in just a decade.

The island saw some two million visitors last year, pumping roughly $1 billion in revenue into the Philippine economy.

The boom also made Boracay a magnet for Filipinos seeking well-paying jobs that they failed to find in rural areas or urban centres like the capital Manila.

The closure will impact the livelihood of 17,000 hotel, restaurant and other tourism workers, plus about 11,000 construction workers.

Magbanua says he used to earn 1,000 pesos daily ($19) before the shutdown, more than double the local minimum wage.

"I really want to have lots of tourists on Boracay," he said near one of his creations that spells out the island's name.

- Braiding policeman's hair? -

Many workers were prepared to join the tourist exodus, as they headed home to other parts of the country.

Life on the island comes at a high cost as prices are inflated for the tourist market.

Faustino Cruz said he would return to becoming a coconut farmer in his province southeast of Manila after working his way up as a resort chef.

"It's backbreaking work on the farm and the income is only every three months. It's half what I make here but we just have to bear it because I have young children to support," Faustino told us at France24.

Like Cruz, hotel masseuse Dory Gaitano told her family sacrifices must be made.

She asked her eldest child, a university student, to stop going to school in the meantime.

"My kids were frowning. They were against it. I said what can I do, Boracay is closed?"

Duterte earlier said he would release two billion pesos ($38.2 million) to help the workers, but many said they have not seen a penny yet.

The impact is hardest on informal workers like Iflin Bayato, who braids tourists' hair for a living.

"Who will I cater to? The police have short hair!" she told AFP.

In some cases entire businesses were moving.

Milky Maming on Wednesday moved his 160-strong staff to a branch in central Cebu island as he would have no more customers for his water sports business.

"Businesses like ours are fleeing everywhere. Some are in Cebu or Bohol. We are looking for tourists so we can help our staff," Maming told us at France24, referring to other tourist islands.

Magbanua, the sandcastle maker, said he would stay on the island along with his buddies who would also do construction work.

"All of us have the same plan. Maybe we can just build the sandcastles on the road," he said with a laugh.