Leni on Duterte's remarks: Right to be offended by it

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED 11:58 a.m.) — Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday said she deliberately chose to ignore what she calls are inappropriate remarks of President Rodrigo Duterte due to more pressing issues at the time.

Saying she was thinking of the Supreme Court's decision on the burial of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, Robredo said she chose to look the other way when Duterte admitted to be smitten with her looks and "nice legs" at the public commemoration of the third anniversary of Super Typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban City.

“When President Duterte made inappropriate remarks, I deliberately chose to ignore these. There are larger and more urgent issues we confront as a nation that demand our collective attention,” Robredo said in a statement.

“But many were bothered and offended by it. As we all rightly should. Tasteless remarks and inappropriate advances against women should have no place in our society. We should expect that most of all from our leaders,” she added.

Duterte said there is nothing wrong if he admires Robredo, a widow, since his marriage with his first wife, Elizabeth Zimmerman, had been annulled.

“Pupunta rin ako dito kasi nandito ang Vice President (I will come here because the Vice President is here). Wherever she goes, I will follow. She is a widow and my marriage had been annulled,” the president in his speech at the event.

READ: Joke only? Rody ready to kill to woo Leni

Duterte’s remarks earned negative reactions from netizens while some present at the venue laughed it off. Others found it as a sensitive issue on sexism and objectification of women

I wonder what the esteemed women rights advocate Pia Cayetano will have to say about Duterte's sexist remarks on VP Leni yesterday?

— Hey it's just J (@jason_without_y) November 9, 2016

Yung sinabi ni Duterte kay Leni, its pambabastos. He wants to reduce females to sexual objects. What a sexist remark! @PresidentialCom

— (@zeeejayee) November 9, 2016

i publicly support duterte but this is the first time that i've felt disappointment towards him. vp leni didnt deserve it. stay strong, veep

— Deborah Hedy (@avavivien) November 9, 2016

"Eliciting giggles from the crowd."

Nobody even BOTHERED to defend Leni from Duterte's misogynistic statements.

— #MarcosNotAHero (@AnguloPolly) November 9, 2016

The president is known to make informal comments and jokes in his speeches. He also mentioned in the same speech that he sometimes inserts jokes when meeting with Robredo to avoid a serious mood.

Robredo, for her part, said the president’s remarks only strengthened her resolve to fulfill her duties as the country’s vice president. She said she is committed to help alleviate poverty and uplift lives of the Filipinos through building homes and communities.

“I have spent many years as an alternative lawyer fighting for the rights of women, myself included. That commitment will never waver,” the vice president said.

Duterte defends comments as 'appropriate'

Duterte on Wednesday defended his remarks to Robredo saying it was a suitable compliment to break the ice. "It's appropriate. As a matter of fact, it was good," he said at a media conference prior to his departure for Malaysia.

He also slammed the reporter, who asked him to react on Robredo's statement, saying the media wants to depict him as "sexist."

"Unless umakyat ka sa tuhod hanggang diyan [points to upper part of body] then that could be (an) extreme bad take," the president said.

Asked if it was necessary to make such comments at a commemoration event, Duterte replied it was necessary to make people laugh and enjoy the occasion. He added that he was also angered to learn that despite billions of budget for the Yolanda victims, there is little progress in the rehabilitation efforts.

"Do not cast aspersion sa mga biro ko. Kasi ako hindi ako heneral, politiko ako. Natural samin ang magpatawa lalo na after magalit," he said.