Philippines' Duterte kisses 5 Filipino women on stage while in Tokyo

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte kissed five Filipino women on stage during a speech in Tokyo on Thursday, in front of his wife.

>>Reuters
Published : 31 May 2019, 06:17 AM
Updated : 31 May 2019, 06:17 AM

Duterte has been in Tokyo since May 28 for business meetings and the firebrand leader is expected to speak at the Nikkei Conference on the Future of Asia and meet Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on May 31.

The 74-year-old former mayor was meeting the Filipino community in Japan when he asked women near the stage to "volunteer" to kiss him to end the event. He later called for a widowed volunteer from the audience.

During a similar meeting with the Filipino community in South Korea in June 2018, Duterte kissed a Filipino woman on the lips on live television before meeting South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in, which drew ire from feminist groups for treating women as objects of entertainment.

While the mutual touching of cheeks between women is a common way to greet each other in the Philippines, having a man as one party or kissing on the cheeks are not.