‘Alarming, insensitive’: Police officer’s ‘lalaki pa din sila’ statement angers LGBT groups

Job Manahan and Josiah Antonio, ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — The LGBT community and its allies aired their frustration over a police officer’s “unfair” remark implying that gay men are still capable of raping women, saying it is both alarming and insensitive.</p><p>Police Col. Harold Depositar, Makati City’s chief of police, earlier said in an interview related to Christina Dacera’s death that gays still have a tendency to touch women due to male&#x27;s basic instincts.</p><p>Depositar’s statement came after one of Dacera’s friend-turned-suspect Gregorio de Guzman said he had nothing to do with the flight attendant’s alleged sexual abuse because he is gay.</p><p>“Lalaki pa din sila. May instinct &#x27;yan and… you know, lalo na if you’re under the influence of intoxicating alcohol, and kung may presence of drugs pa — lalo na,” Depositar explained. </p><p>(They are still men. They have instincts, most especially if they are under the influence of alcohol and the presence of drugs.) </p><div><strong> Watch a part of his interview:</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1EfauAJ4GXU?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div><p>But Depositar’s pronouncement drew criticism on Wednesday, prompting social media posts dismissing it. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/05/21/family-of-flight-attendant-found-dead-eyes-raps-vs-makati-hotel-more-suspects">&#x27;Many loose ends&#x27;: Family eyes raps vs Makati hotel, more suspects over flight attendant&#x27;s death</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/01/05/21/claire-de-la-fuente-appeals-to-mother-of-christine-dacera-confident-that-her-suspect-son-will-be-cleared">Claire de la Fuente appeals to mother of Christine Dacera; confident that her suspect son will be cleared</a></li></ul><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">PASS THE SOGIE EQUALITY BILL NOW!<br/><br/>With the PNP’s desire to wrongfully condemn the suspects, the SOGIE Equality Bill would at minimum provide a legal remedy, and allow formal recognition of diverse SOGIEs and how they are critical in this conversation.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JusticeForChristineDacera?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JusticeForChristineDacera</a></p>— Bahaghari #AchibDisBill (@Bahaghari_PH) <a href="https://twitter.com/Bahaghari_PH/status/1346598619403571202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2021</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Bahaghari spokesperson Rey Valmores-Salinas stressed that gay men are sexually attracted only to men. </p><p>&quot;It seems the PNP must be reminded of a simple truth: Gay men are only attracted to men. It is alarming for our law enforcers to insist on branding these men as criminals even when, in the first place, the country has been embroiled in this mess because of the PNP’s inability to conduct a full and thorough investigation before jumping to conclusions,&quot; Salinas told ABS-CBN News.</p><p>&quot;The LGBTQ+ are not mere accessories to the bogus narratives they wish to propagate,&quot; she added.</p><p>Fact Check Philippines’ Nathan Austria said the city police chief’s remarks were neither grounded in fairness nor science. </p><p>“Not only does his statement assume that all men are rapists but it&#x27;s also ignorant of SOGIE . . . A person does not rape because of one&#x27;s gender or sexuality but because of the shortcoming in his upbringing,” Austria said. </p><p>LGBT member and educator Alvin Gapuz described the police&#x27;s statement as insensitive and &quot;very unprofessional.&quot;</p><p>&quot;During these times that sometimes social media takes over the facts and lies, giving such statement without evidence and proper investigations is very unprofessional. Dapat hinintay n&#x27;ya muna ang test results and investigations to justify his view,&quot; said Gapuz. </p><p>(He should have waited for the test results and the end of the investigation.) </p><p>He also cautioned the police against generalizing. </p><p>&quot;We cannot deny the fact that behaviors of either a straight men or women and LGBT member can be significantly affected in such circumstances . . . To think that all men are rapists is absurd,&quot; Gapuz added. </p><p>Comedienne K Brosas and actress Chienna Filomeno, meanwhile, refuted the police’s claim by turning to humor in making a point.</p><p>Brosas said her gay friends never dared kiss her when they got drunk. </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="tl">pnp— kahit bakla yan pag nakainom ng alak nagiging lalake yan!<br/>me— hoy ilang beses nako nalasing kasama mga beki, ilang beses na kaming nag spin the bottle ayaw nila ako i kiss shutanginamez! 🙄🙄🙄</p>— carmela brosas (@kbrosas) <a href="https://twitter.com/kbrosas/status/1346637316303908865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2021</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Filomeno, meanwhile, pointed out that her gay friends could not resist dancing to a BLACKPINK song when drunk. </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="tl">Kahit bakla yan, kapag nakainom ng alak nagiging lalake yan.<br/><br/>Me: sige patugtog tayo kahit anong BLACKPINK song ah</p>— Chienna Filomeno (@ChieFilomeno) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChieFilomeno/status/1346497194879143936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2021</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>DJ Chacha quote-tweeted comedian John Lapus and said Depositar might not have spent time yet with gay people. </p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="tl">Kaya nagtataka ko sa mga nagsasabi niyan at naniniwala diyan sa statement na yan, hindi pa naranasan yata makipagwalwalan sa mga beks! <a href="https://t.co/w8sntt7Kr8">https://t.co/w8sntt7Kr8</a></p>— DJ Chacha (@_djchacha) <a href="https://twitter.com/_djchacha/status/1346646548583653377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 6, 2021</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>“Kaya nagtataka ko sa mga nagsasabi niyan at naniniwala diyan sa statement na yan, hindi pa naranasan yata makipagwalwalan sa mga beks!” she said. </p><p>(That is why I wonder why there are still who believe that statement. Maybe he has not spent time with them yet?) </p><p>Dacera’s camp in a press conference on Tuesday denied that the police or the family are vilifying the LGBTQ+ community.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ohe1VoYDP5g?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>“Not only does his statement assume that all men are rapists but it's also ignorant of SOGIE . . . A person does not rape because of one's gender or sexuality but because of the shortcoming in his upbringing,” one critic says.</p>

“Not only does his statement assume that all men are rapists but it's also ignorant of SOGIE . . . A person does not rape because of one's gender or sexuality but because of the shortcoming in his upbringing,” one critic says.

‘Alarming, insensitive’: Police officer’s ‘lalaki pa din sila’ statement angers LGBT groups | ABS-CBN

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‘Alarming, insensitive’: Police officer’s ‘lalaki pa din sila’ statement angers LGBT groups

Job Manahan and Josiah Antonio,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 06, 2021 08:32 PM PHT

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Updated Jan 06, 2021 10:18 PM PHT

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Christine Dacera

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