MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte denied there was malice when he kissed a married Filipina on the lips in South Korea and played it down as just his “style.”
“We enjoyed it. It was a showbiz and everybody enjoyed it,” Duterte said in his arrival speech at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.
The President arrived in Manila Tuesday night from a three-day official trip to South Korea.
“Asking for malice, I do not do it in public if there is malice. I would pull the woman’s – down somewhere along the empty hall there,” he said.
On Sunday Duterte asked Filipina workers for a kiss in exchange for free copies of a book about the alleged corruption in the Catholic Church.
The President said he had been kissing women since he was the mayor of Davao City.
“You know, I’ll tell you what, there are people here from Davao. During the campaign in my mayorship days, I kiss every woman there, lips to lips,” said Duterte.
“Style ko iyan e. Maghanap kayo ng ibang style ninyo,” he said.
“There is nothing wrong – in a simple kiss, you cause an uproar. Inggit lang iyan sila. Sabihin mo sa kanila palitan nila ang pustiso nila.”
Bea Kim, the Filipina the President kissed on the lips, said the kiss “meant nothing” to her and Duterte.
“I can’t explain it. It’s like I was nervous, I was scared, excited, thankful. I was happy because it’s, like, a once-in-a-lifetime experience, right?” said Kim, who is married to a Korean man with whom she has two children.
“Even in the Philippines, it’s a longshot to see the President that close,” she added./PN
