By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

PHOTO: Inquirer Bandera

Netizens rallied on social media with hashtag #DuterteManyak, calling out President Rodrigo Duterte over a viral birthday video showing him trying to touch his house worker who brought him a cake on his 76th birthday. 

In a video that made rounds on social media, the President can be seen blowing a candle on top of a cup of rice. As a woman approached him seconds later while holding a sliced cake, Duterte seemingly attempted to touch her lower body, prompting her to quickly move away from the Chief executive's hand.

"Having a macho-fascist president has worsened the situation of Filipino women —especially marginalized women in the PH. Duterte once again proved to us that he is the commander-in-chief of misogyny and fascism in the country. As women, we have to fight back! Oust!" said the women's group Gabriela Youth in a statement. 

Former PTV-4 host Jules Guiang said the Duterte administration has tolerated a "backward mindset and fueled a culture of gender oppression (and) inequality," instead of "(elevating) women to their rightful place in society and (breaking) barriers that hindered their full potential". 

For human rights activist and political blogger Francis “Frank” Baraan IV, the president has "shamelessly displayed a pervasive pattern of misogyny in full public view repeatedly."

"#DuterteManyak is an accurate description of a 70+old man, who has the raging hormones of sex-hungry 17 yr-old w/ a perverse penchant for rape jokes. Duterte has shamelessly displayed a pervasive pattern of misogyny in full public view repeatedly," his tweet reads 

Alongside #DuterteManyak, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque's name also joined the twitter trend as he earlier defended the President’s action and said it has no malice as it was just a display of Duterte’s sense of humor.

" Harry Roque was once the legal counsel representing victims of sexual abuse. Now he defends this type of behavior. I’m not sure if he did a complete 180 on his values or simply never had them. I don’t know which is worse," a Twitter user said. 

Another Twitter user lamented her disappointment of the human rights lawyer Roque: "The way you're literally setting yourself up for shame is pitiful, roque. You wasted years studying law, when you ended up leashed like a dog for someone who's not worth respecting. Sexual harassment is not a joke, pu****ina niyo talaga. 

Back in 2018, the president himself admitted before a large crowd at the provincial gymnasium in Kidapawan City, Cotabato, that he molested his family’s maid when he was still a teenager.