A video of President-elect Duterte whistling and singing to GMA-7 Mariz Umali after she raised a question to him at a recent press conference surfaced and Umali’s husband, fellow GMA-7 reporter Raffy Tima was not impressed.
The journalist took to Facebook to express his frustration and disapproval over the actions of Duterte during said press conference, saying “Catcalling my wife is so wrong in so many levels”.
Tima said:
Catcalling My Wife Is Wrong In So Many Levels
I expected that from a Mayor Duterte. I know his reputation well enough not to be shocked by it, but that does not make it right. For someone who espouses leadership by example, catcalling anyone in a press conference with all cameras trained on him defies logic. Then again, thats Mayor Duterte.
What appalled me even more was how some people in the room reacted. Most laughed, others made teasing noise and basically urged the mayor to dish some more! And he did. I do hope none of them were journalists because if they were, shame on them.
When you see or hear anyone say something wrong you do not encourage it, you do the opposite. Or in that particular instance at least, they should have kept quite and in their silence gave the message that what the mayor did was wrong.
Some jokes are funny and should be laughed at… but disrespecting women is definitely not one of them
It can be seen in the video that the President-elect was trying to interrupt Umali’s question by even remarking, “Nagpapapansin ka talaga sa akin, ha” before proceeding to whistle and sing to her.
Tima also called out the people present in the conference, who, instead of pointing out what Duterte did was wrong or staying silent, even teased and cheered him on.
Mariz, as seen in the video, was smiling and keeping her composure as she insisted that the President-elect answer her question.
But as to how Umali really felt during the whole incident seemed the opposite.
In an interview with GMA News, the reporter said:
“From their end, walang lumapit o nakipag-usap man lang. I’m not expecting any apology pero wala man lang nakipag-usap from their end …. Iniintindi natin yan because sa mga coverage natin sa kanya talagang sinasabi niya na ganoon talaga siya and mayroon pa nga siyang sinabi na pabiro noong previous press conference na baka hindi daw perfect si God because he created him that way. Mayroon pa siyang sinabi na kapag daw nagbago siya ay hindi na siya si Rodrigo Duterte.”
$Mariz also added that she just maintained her composure, tried to understand the situation, and tried to get her answer.
Thoughts on this? Discuss in the comments section.
