Dela Rosa’s joke ‘irresponsible, worsens abuse vs women’ — Chel Diokno

CAMARINES SUR, Philippines — Human rights lawyer Chel Diokno on Wednesday slammed the joke made by former Philippine National Police and Bureau of Corrections Chief Ronald Dela Rosa, calling it irresponsible and uncalled for.

In a speech at a campaign sortie Pampanga on Tuesday Dela Rosa, an administration-backed senatorial aspirant, said in jest: “Sabi nila ang pinakamabilis na paraan para matuto ka ng salitang Kapampangan ay makipag lips-to-lips ka palagi ng Kapampangan para mabilis ‘yung transfer ng kaalaman.

(They say that the fastest way to learn the language of the Kapampangan is to kiss a woman on the lips. This transfers the knowledge faster).”

READ: Kiss a Kapampangan woman on the lips to learn their language – Bato

Diokno warned that this kind of joke can worsen abuses against women.

“Iresponsable ito. Sa paulit-ulit na ganitong salita at asta, dumadagdag lang si Gen. Dela Rosa sa problema at tumutulong lang siyang gawing normal na lang ang pambabastos sa kababaihan. Hindi makatarungan sa kababaihan na hindi na nga pantay ang binibigay na paggalang sa kanila, ginagawa pang katatawanan ang pagkababae at pagkatao nila,” the Otso Diretso senatorial candidate said in a statement.

(This is irresponsible. Gen. Dela Rosa is making the problem worse. Repeating this kind of language only helps normalize abusive language against women. This is not fair as this makes women the butt of jokes.)

Diokno also said this lack of respect for women has no place in the government.

“Hindi lahat ng kawalan ng respeto sa kababaihan ay nauuwi sa karahasan, pero tandaan natin na lahat ng karahasan laban sa kababaihan ay diyan nagsisimula sa kawalan ng paggalang, biro man o hindi. Kaya naman sana, wala nang lugar lalo na sa pamahalaan ang ganitong baliktad at baluktot na pagiisip,” he added.

(Not all forms of disrespect against women lead to violence, but let us remember that violence against women starts with disrespect, whether it is a joke or not. There is no place for this in government.)

Diokno then called for his fellow candidates to raise the level of discourse during the 90-day campaign period./ee