Nasa sentro na naman ng kontrobersiya si Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III.
Binatikos ng netizens ang kanyang pananaw tungkol sa “hipo” habang tinatalakay sa Senate floor noong Miyerkules, August 1, ang Senate Bill No. 1326 o Safe Spaces bill.
Tinanong ni Sotto ang sponsor ng proposed bill na si Senator Risa Hontiveros kung ang public harassment sa Senate Bill 1326 (Safe Streets Act) ay kahalintulad ng anti-discrimination provisions ng Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression (SOGIE) bill.
Ipinaliwanag ni Hontiveros na ang panukala tungkol sa Safe Street Act ay naka-focus sa "unwanted comments, gestures, and actions forced on a person in a public space without their consent and is directed at them because of their actual or perceived sex, gender, gender expression, or sexual orientation and identity."
Sa kabilang banda, ayon kay Hontiveros, ang SOGIE Equality Bill o Anti-Discrimination Bill ay nagbabawal ng "discrimination on the basis of SOGIE in terms of access to public service, including military service; employment, education, accreditation, medical service, or imposition of harsher sanctions.”
Kasunod nito, tinanong muli ni Sotto si Hontiveros ng ganito: “Are we not limiting the act of harassment when it’s committed on streets and public spaces by including the qualifier, gender based?"
Paliwanag pa ng senate president, "Baka puwedeng iwasan natin yun kasi, for instance, just to set an example: in an alley, a straight guy touched the groin of another straight guy who just happened to pass by just to vex him and not because of the person's SOGIE. In this bill, would the offender be held liable?
"For example, yung sinabi ko na binibiro lang, hinipuan na ganun, will they be liable? You said yes, the answer I think is no."
Sagot ni Hontiveros, “Ang babaeng hinipuan ng lalaki, hindi po namin yun tinatanaw na biro because that truly makes women feel unsafe.”
Dahil dito, pinagpiyestahan ng netizens ang komentong ito ni Sotto.
Philippine Senate Presidents
— Ryan Aster (@rryyyaaaannnn) August 3, 2018
(A very Long Thread until we’ve got a clown in Tito Sotto)
Manuel Luis Quezon
(1916-1935)
His most significant achievement was the passage of the Jones Act that provided for the grant of Philippine independence.
bad trip walang twitter acc si sen. tito sotto ask ko lang sana kung okay lang bang hipuan yung anak at asawa nya pero joke lang pero alam q okay lang sabi nya basta joke lang okay lang eh so ayun okay lang talaga hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha bobobobobobobobo!!
— ???????? (@itsjonamazzzing) August 3, 2018
It is like vindicating these sex predators a freedom to nonconsensual groping to women anytime men wants to, and to us women, what do we get, “joke lang”? Like nothing happened? Magresign ka na Tito Sotto. Condoning sexual offenders means you are one and the same.
— fRUEgal (@rockstardust784) August 3, 2018
I wonder what Tito Sotto's female relatives feel whenever he invalidates women's struggles on sexual harassment and rape culture.
— yota ken ? (@erandiokhen_) August 3, 2018
He even called a single mom "naano lang" where in fact his daughter is also a single parent.
His insensitivity disgusts me.
sometimes i feel so bobo but then i remember tito sotto https://t.co/m8WEOZLW7a
— IBALIK ANG KRIS TV (@kamotecute_) August 3, 2018
“Okay lang manghipo basta walang malisya” - Tito Sotto
— Darlene Monterde (@darliiinnggg) August 2, 2018
WOW HOW FUCKED UP WAS THAT?!!!!! No wonder our country is swarming with people who feed on catcalling and harassment. I swear some people are fcking pigs!!!!!!
"For example, yung sinabi ko na binibiro lang, hinipuan na ganun, will they be liable? You (to @risahontiveros) said yes, the answer I think is NO."
— Miranda???? (@beareyno) August 1, 2018
-Senate President Tito Sotto on the Safe Streets and Public Spaces Bill
Molestation is not a joke. It's a crime. pic.twitter.com/f0hH13NIEo
JUDGMENTAL PEOPLE
Sa inilabas namang statement ni Senator Sotto ngayong araw, August 3, sinabi nitong dapat himaying mabuti ng kanyang mga kritiko ang katanungan niya bago sila manghusga.
Pahayag niya, "It was a question. They should find out what's true before they judge people
"I do not want to pay attention to judgmental people.”
Hindi ito ang unang pagkakataong nabatikos si Sotto dahil sa kanyang mga komento.
Noong 2017, nabatikos din si Sotto dahil sa kanyang “na-ano” comment kay noo’y Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary-designate Judy Taguiwalo sa hearing ng Commission on Appointments (CA).