Former President Joseph Estrada. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Former President and reelected Manila City Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada on Sunday gave his take on the infamous wolf-whistling of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte on a female reporter in one of his nationally-televised press conferences recently.
In a Radyo Inquirer report, Estrada said that Duterte may have only intended to make people laugh.
“There’s a saying, a day without laughter is a day wasted. He wants people to laugh so their day won’t be wasted,” Estrada said in an interview with reporters after the Independence Day rites at Rizal Park.
The former President said that the public should just wait if Duterte will fulfill his promise of change once he assumes office on June 30.
Responding to the observation that both he and Duterte deliver strong statements, the Manila City mayor clarified that the only similarity that they share is that they were both elected mayors.
READ: Duterte draws flak for wolf whistle
Duterte drew flak after wolf-whistling GMA-7 reporter Mariz Umali while she was asking the President-elect a question.
Umali said that what the mayor did was improper but chose not to exact an apology from Duterte. Her husband, reporter Raffy Tima, did not take the matter sitting down and criticized the President-elect on his Facebook account.
READ: Reporter shocked by Duterte’s catcalling, doesn’t expect apology
“Catcalling my wife is wrong in so many levels,” Tima wrote. “Some jokes are funny and should be laughed at but disrespecting women is definitely not one of them.”
In his defense, Duterte said that his wolf-whistling was part of his freedom of expression. Incoming Presidential Spokersperson Salvador Panelo even said that the wolf-whistle should be considered a “compliment.” With a report from Isa Avendaño-Umali, Radyo Inquirer/AJH/JE/rga
READ: Duterte: Whistling is not a sexual thing