A Catholic university in Manila decided not to renew the contract of a part-time professor who reportedly insinuated the sexual harassment of an opposition senator.
A De La Salle university professor “recommended” on a social media post that opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros hold a “closed-door session” with prisoners to teach them not to rape.
The remark was a reaction to Hontiveros’ criticism of a social media post by a police station in Lucban town in Quezon province telling women not to wear skimpy clothes to avoid being harassed.
“You ‘gherlsz’, you don’t wear short skirts and run to us when you get harassed,” read the now-deleted post on the local police office’s social media page.
Hontiveros countered that there is no dress code for rape or sexual harassment.
“Instead of teaching women how to dress, we should teach men not to rape,” she said in a tweet on June 13.
The De La Salle professor’s post drew flack from members of the Catholic university community, resulting in an online petition to hold the professor accountable.
“This behavior is one that we have no tolerance for, and does not reflect our values and morals as an institution,” the university’s student government said in a statement on June 14.
Mary Julie Balarbar, chairperson of the university’s Marketing and Advertising Department where the professor is a faculty member, said the university “will not tolerate any behavior that goes against the values and morals of the university.”
