Duterte’s maid remark may impact OFWs — CHR

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte’s supposed confession of molesting the family housemaid when he was young is inconsistent with the government’s efforts to protect overseas Filipino workers, according to the Commission on Human Rights.

CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia yesterday urged government officials to be consistent in the commitment to protect the welfare of Filipino migrant workers, noting the challenges faced by Filipinas working as domestic helpers.

“The current administration is fully aware of this condition when, in early 2018, the government even prompted a deployment ban in Kuwait following numerous cases of disappearance, death and abuses of Filipino workers. Similar forms of maltreatment are also being reported in other countries,” she said.

“We then encourage the administration to be consistent both in words and deeds in this regard, and refrain from making statements that may contravene its commitment to uphold the rights of Filipino workers abroad, such as the previous remark by the President claiming to have abused a female domestic worker during his teenage years,” she added.

De Guia said statements that appear to tolerate injustices would not lead to a just and humane society. 

“It is only by respecting the rights of all and allowing our laws to prevail will we be able to safeguard the dignity of each and everyone. More importantly, respect should always start at home – here in our own country,” she added.

Duterte last week drew criticisms after sharing a story of his supposed confession to a priest regarding his trying to insert a finger inside the househelp’s underwear when he was an adolescent. 

Malacañang said Duterte’s story was a fabrication to highlight the abuse supposedly suffered by the President at the hands of a priest.

De Guia earlier said that there is no acceptable spin or excuse to justify Duterte’s statement regarding the maid. 

“Words matter. Women have often been subjects of many forms of violence because such remarks help normalize degrading treatment against them,” she said. 

“The Palace claims that the President ‘has made up a laughable anecdote to dramatize the fact of sexual abuse that was inflicted (by a priest) on him and his fellow students when they were in high school.’ But alleged abuses cannot be used as reason to degrade women and further violence,” she added. 

The CHR official said sexual abuses committed by priests, if proven, are punishable under Philippine laws. 

“Women deserve to be treated equally and with dignity. More importantly, undue persecution of women will not lead to any form of justice,” she added.