It’s now Kris vs Mocha over Duterte’s kiss

Mocha Uson and Kris Aquino

“Tama na. Sobra na.”

Kris Aquino has slammed Presidential Assistant Communications Secretary Mocha Uson for using an old video of her father, the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., to defend President Rodrigo Duterte from criticism for kissing a married Filipino woman in South Korea.

“Marami akong pinalagpas. Binalahura mo na ang buong pagkatao ng pamilya namin,” Aquino said in an Instagram post.

In a post on Facebook, Uson compared the President’s behavior in Seoul with the behavior of the woman who kissed Senator Aquino on the plane that flew him home on Aug. 21, 1983.

The leader of the opposition to dictator Ferdinand Marcos was assassinated at the airport.

“Pero nung napanuod ko yung inupload mo para depensahan si Presidente Duterte (na ni minsan hindi ko pinakitaan ng hindi maganda) alam mo ba kung ano ang ginawa mo? Sinariwa mo ang sugat sa puso ng isang batang 12 years old nung pinaslang ng walang kalaban laban ang kanyang ama,” Aquino said.

Aquino said she was in tears because the woman and another had the chance to kiss her father but not she before he died.

Aquino said she didn’t want to pick a fight with Uson, but she thought the sexy dancer and blogger who had become presidential communications officer had “crossed the line.”

Her mother’s words

“Wala kaming ginamit. Inako ko lahat ng mali ko at dahil nga minahal ako ng nanay ko at gusto kong maging mabuting ina—sinisikap kong ayusin ang buhay ko,” Aquino said.

While defending her parents, Aquino said she didn’t need to fend off attacks against her brother, former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, since he is still alive.

“Kaya ngayon hihiramin ko ang salita nya: TAMA NA. SOBRA NA… Kung may gusto kang punching bag, please ako na lang. Kasi buhay ako, kaya kitang sagutin. At hindi kita uurungan,” she added.

Social media was abuzz with photos and videos of the President before a crowd of Filipinos in Seoul on Sunday night, when he asked a woman, identified by the Philippine News Agency (PNA) as Bea Kim, to kiss him in exchange for a book he was handing out.

‘Don’t take it seriously’

Kim, who admitted she is married and appeared excited to see the President in person, agreed.

The President then told the cheering crowd of about 3,000: “Don’t take it seriously. It’s just for fun, a gimmick.”

PNA posted a brief video interview with Kim, whose husband is a Korean, on Facebook.

“There wasn’t malice in it,” Kim said. “For me, for him, it didn’t mean anything.”

Harmless kiss

The incident drew criticism from women’s groups, which saw it as the President’s “perverted way” of taunting his female critics.

Some Filipinos, however, thought it was a harmless kiss intended to be fun.

But opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros said that even if Kim had consented to the kiss, there was a huge power disparity between her and Mr. Duterte.

Hontiveros said the President’s behavior was a “grave abuse of authority.”

Anna Pinili, a churchgoer who considers herself a devout Catholic, said the President had good intentions, but could have handled it better.

“He should have kissed her on the cheeks instead,” Pinili said.

Father-of-two Raymond Pascual said people were making too much of a deal of it, and that he thought it was just a “simple kiss.”

Explaining the incident on Monday night, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the kiss was “an act of endearment” intended for all Filipinos working far from home.

“The Filipino community (in Seoul) appreciated the act,” Roque said. —Reports from Leila B. Salaverria, Christine O. Avendaño, Julie M. Aurelio and the wires