Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has angered women's rights advocates and social media users after he was seen on video kissing a woman on the lips during his visit with the Filipino community in South Korea last Sunday.
According to Rappler, Duterte invited two female overseas Filipino workers (OFW) to the stage to give them a copy of "Altar of Secrets: Sex, Politics, and Money in the Philippine Catholic Church."
The president, who is on a three-day official visit to South Korea, reportedly kissed one of the women on the cheek and asked for a kiss on the lips from the other.
Philstar reported that Duterte asked the second woman if she was single. When the woman told Duterte that she has a boyfriend, the president went on to ask "You're not separated from him? But you can tell him that this is just a joke?" according to Rappler.
The kiss prompted cheers from the audience, but it sparked outrage among some social media users.
"If this is the kind of leader we respect..then there must be something wrong with our values," one Twitter user wrote.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. defended the president's actions, saying the woman did not see any malice in the kiss. Reuters reported that the woman later admitted that she is married.
Moments after the kiss, Duterte was heard telling the crowd: "Don't take it seriously. It's just for fun, a gimmick."
The incident has also drawn criticism from the women's rights group Gabriela, which described it as "disgusting theatrics of a misogynist President."
"It is unfortunate that the woman found it her obligation to publicly defend the act as 'no malice,' when it is the President who is duty-bound to explain not only because it was upon his prodding but he is bound, as a public official, by rules of ethics to explain his unruly conduct," said Gabriela secretary-general Joms Salvador, as reported by Philstar.
Women's group Likhaan also denounced the kiss, saying Duterte should have restrained himself and should not have used his power to take advantage of women.
Migrante International, an advocacy group for OFWs, expressed concern that Filipino workers may not be treated with respect by their foreign employers because of how the president treats Filipino women in public.
