Judge Duterte by his action, not his words, says spokesperson

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella. INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

President Duterte should be judged by what he does and stands for, not by his words, Malacañang said on Saturday as it fended off criticism that the President  promoted misogyny and sexism in his first year as chief executive.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, an opposition senator, had said that Mr. Duterte’s first year was a dangerous time to be a woman and noted that under his rule, rape had been trivialized, a female reporter had been subjected to catcalls and gender based online harassment grew.

But presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Mr. Duterte, even when he was Davao City mayor, had instituted programs to help and protect women.

“We hope that Senator Hontiveros judge the President not by the words that he says, but for what he stands for,” Abella said over state-run Radyo ng Bayan.

He said Davao City was implementing the local version of the reproductive health law — which allows the government to provide contraceptives to the public to help them plan their families — even before a national reproductive health measure was passed in Congress.

Mr. Duterte has also been supportive of the Women Development Code, which has been in place in Davao City since 1997, Abella said. The code sought to protect women against discrimination and funded projects to promote gender sensitivity.

Another project Mr. Duterte supported as mayor was the creation of the Council for Women which monitored reports of violence against women in the Davao City, the spokesperson said. The Women and Children Protection Unit also provided psychological support to women who had been abused.

Abella said Hontiveros should check out what Mr. Duterte had done instead of prejudging him.

“If only the senator would really look and not just make comments based on prejudgments and knee-jerk reactions, I would say that she, we would be in a better place,” he said.

He also said she was  “pretty out of touch” with regard to her statements about the President, though he said he was just repeating a comment about her.

As President, Mr. Duterte  frequently joked about extramarital affairs and defended his close male allies who admitted having mistresses./rga