Police personnel of Lucban town in Quezon province are facing an investigation over the allegedly “sexist” post made on the official Facebook account of the local police force.
In a statement, Philippine National Police Chief Police Gen. Archie Gamboa directed the PNP Directorate for Police Community Relations to look into reported victim-blaming statement posted on the official Facebook account of Lucban PNP.
“They will be made to justify also why no administrative sanctions shall be imposed upon them for their actions despite earlier instructions to take down posts with similar content,” he said.
A post on Thursday under the Facebook account “Lucban Municipal Police Station” supposedly urged the public to love and not subject women to abuse.
“Mahalin natin ang kababaihan at huwag nyo abusuhin ang kanilang kabaitan. (Let us love women and not abuse their kindness),” the post said.
And it added: “Kayo naman mga ghErlz, wag kayong magsusuot ng pagkaikli-ikling damit at pag naman nabastos ay magsusumbong din sa amin. Isipin nyo rin! (And for you, girls, don’t wear skimpy clothing that when you get disrespected, you come to us for help. Think about it!)”
The post was accompanied by a stream of social media hashtags typically used by the PNP: #TeamPNP, #WeServeAndProtect, #PNPKakampiMo, #CPNPArchieGamboa, #TeamCalabarzon, #PNP4A, #TatakManongEntengDanao and #PulisLucbanTunaynaLingkodBayan.
“Manong Enteng Danao” is a reference to Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr., regional director of the PNP in Calabarzon.
Danger of victim blaming
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) condemned the post, saying it is wrong to blame the victim for any sexual abuse.
“Victim blaming encourages rape culture and sexual microaggressions against women. It treats gender-based violence as normal, and affects the access to justice who are victims of such abuse,” the CHR said in a statement.
Sorry
Maj. Rizaldy Merene, Lucban’s police chief, apologized for the “misinterpreted advisory” and had the post taken down.
“It was a sincere and honest public advisory which was only misinterpreted for wrong choice of words,” he said in a phone interview on Saturday.
Merene said “the whole police station is humbly asking for public understanding.”
“We’re all very sorry,” he said.