Philippine President Duterte Under Fire for Kissing a Woman on Stage

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Photo from Philippine Star Screenshot

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte came under fire for kissing an overseas Filipino worker during a public event with the Filipino community held in Seoul, South Korea.

He asked for a kiss in return for giving her a book…

On June 3, President Duterte was giving a speech to the Philippine workers at a hotel located in Seoul. Towards the end of the speech, Mr. Duterte abruptly said, "I'll give a book as a gift to someone who kisses me," and added, "Except for men."

He pointed out a woman in the crowd and asked, "Are you ready to kiss?". As she came up to the podium, he held her arm and kissed her on her lips, then presented her a book. The book's title was Altar of Secrets: Sex, Politics and, Money in the Philippine Catholic Church.

President Duterte and the overseas worker's kiss scene was aired live via social media and local media, drawing huge controversy. Some condemned him saying, "This was the most disgusting thing I saw today."

Photo from Twitter Screenshot

Previously, Mr. Duterte had been slammed several times for his remarks degrading women.

During a business forum speech at ASEAN summit meeting held last January, he mentioned that when the Islamic State militant group(ISIS) recruits its members, “The come-on is that if you die a martyr, you go to heaven with 42 virgins waiting for you.” Then he went on, “If I could just make it a come-on also for those who’d like to go to my country. I'd like to have the virgins here, not in heaven.”

By Grace and Soohyoun Nam voomvoomk@gmail.com