MANILA, Philippines - A state agency promoting women's rights has scored Laguna Rep. Benjamin Agarao for the way he handled the incident during his birthday party celebration after the oath taking of Liberal Party members where sexy girls did a lewd dance on stage.
The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) said it took offense on the statement of Agarao who was quoted as saying during an interview that he saw nothing wrong with sexy girls with lewd dance performance while he was celebrating his birthday.
"It is a major drawback that while we have men of quality who actively support and advocate for gender equality and the empowerment of women in different parts of the country...there are still male political leaders who make women’s degradation trivial and justifiable," the PCW said in a statement.
The PCW also said that LP members who were present during Agarao's birthday celebration should have stopped the lewd performance of the girls who were scantily clad on stage.
"Granting that it was not part of the party’s official function, we find it appalling that there were no reports of any action taken by LP leaders and members who were present in the event to stop the show," the group said.
The PCW also called on public and private sectors to refrain from "commodifying women," treating them as mere sex objects.
"While this is still a work in progress, we have seen positive moves from government and private sector, as they opened their doors to constructive dialogues and better self-regulatory measures to refrain from committing exploitation of women.
"We hope that all political parties, including independent candidates will take cue from these initiatives, especially in light of the coming campaign period for the 2016 elections. Refrain from using women’s bodies as forms of 'entertainment' in campaign sorties and other events; instead, make your platforms known to the public," the PCW said.