Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte pressures overseas worker into kissing him on lips at public event

Stunned rights groups left furious by saga

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has prompted outrage after kissing an overseas Filipino worker on the lips during a public event in South Korea.

The controversial leader, dubbed the “Donald Trump of the east”, called two young women on to the stage to receive a copy of a book while meeting the Philippine community on a three-day official trip to Seoul.

Mr Duterte said jokingly that he would give the book, Altar of Secrets: Sex, Politics and Money in the Philippine Catholic Church, in exchange for a kiss and specifically asked for women in the audience.

“You have to pay me with a kiss. Are you ready for kissing?” Mr Duterte said, according to the Philippine Star.

After offering each of the two female overseas Filipino workers a copy of a book he pecked one of the two women on the cheek.

As the other women presented the side of her face, the president instead gestured to his lips, indicating he was eager for the woman to kiss him on the mouth.

The incident sparked cheers and whoops from the crowd who were predominantly made up of other Filipino workers.

Mr Duterte, who has a long-term partner who he has a daughter with, reportedly asked the woman if about her relationship status.

“Are you single? You’re not separated? But you can tell him that this is just a joke?” he asked, according to a report by Philippines news outlet Rappler.

His actions were heavily criticised on social media.

Women’s rights group Gabriela argued the act represented “disgusting theatrics of a misogynist president who feels entitled to demean, humiliate or disrespect women according to his whim”.

“His repeated acts of machismo are meant as entertainment to hide the reality of his rapidly slipping popularity due to the issues of extrajudicial killings, the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law and big-time corruption scandals now plaguing his rule,” the group said in a statement.

“I’m not even going to state all the things that are obviously wrong here. But look at how President Duterte is gripping the Filipina’s forearms while he kisses her in front of an audience,” one Twitter user said.

But others have sought to defend the president – with one claiming his actions were typical of the way his ethnic group Visayans likes to joke.

The woman – identified as Bea Kim – later told Philippine News Agency that the president had asked if she was single, to which she responded that she was married to a South Korean national.

She insisted was “no malice” in the kiss – explaining the saga did not “mean anything except to entertain and make other Filipinos in the gathering happy”.

Mr Duterte, a highly controversial leader who has sanctioned a bloody drug war and branded former president Barack Obama a “son of a whore”, has previously been criticised for making demeaning, derogatory comments about women.

In February he told soldiers to shoot female rebels in their genitals. Addressing a group of former communist rebels on 7 February, he appeared to encourage Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to target women in conflict.

“Tell the soldiers. ‘There’s a new order coming from the mayor. We won’t kill you. We will just shoot your vagina,’” he said.

At a campaign rally in April 2016, Mr Duerte joked about the rape and murder of an Australian missionary during a 1989 prison riot in Davao, when Mr Duterte was mayor.

He said the rape and murder of the missionary who was visiting a Filipino jail was “a waste” and that he should “have been first” to sexually assault the woman. He initially responded by saying “this is how men talk” but later apologised for his remarks.

At a CNN Philippines town hall event in February that year he admitted he had three girlfriends and a common-law wife. His previous marriage was annulled due to his womanising.

The leader often shares his unsolicited opinions on the sexual attractiveness of different women, particularly female politicians who choose to question his policies.