Mc Richard Paglicawan
- A female netizen shared a terrible experience in her Facebook account.
- She said that a man went really close to her and held her hand before making a scene after she confronted him.
- The man even threatened to hit her afterwards.
A lot of incidents happen every day. Some of them are the common type of crimes, which includes theft and harassment. It is saddening to know that some people are so used to doing these kinds of acts that they aren’t even afraid to do it whether they are under the broad daylight.
Sexual harassment is one of the crimes which have a high rate in the country – that varies only in the specific kind and the gravity of the offense. These crimes include two main classifications: verbal abuse or what they call ‘catcalling’, and the physical contact.
Physical contact is a broad section as not all incidents occur in the same way. Some offenders try to touch the victim’s private part, while there are some who resorts to simple skinship such as holding a stranger’s hand.
A female netizen, who asked to hide her identity, had been a victim of this kind of harassment shared her experience on her Facebook account.
Apparently, the man suddenly held her hand and made a scene right when she confronted him.
Read her full post below:
“Kanina, before our lunch break, we were at the front of pavillon mall greenfield district in pasig. Nagaantay kami ng uber ride dun kasi pa-balik na kami sa office ng workmates ko. Nakatayo lang kami sa labas ng entrance ng mall, at ako naman, naka tingin sa phone kase inaantay ko yung ride. Maya maya, biglang may humawak sa kanan na kamay ko. Akala ko kakilala ko lang yung humawak, so humarap ako sa likuran ko. Nagulat ako na ayang lalaki na yan yung nakatayo near me, as in malapit sakin. Nag face to face kami kaya nagulat ako, napasigaw ako ng ‘bakit mo ko hinawakan bastos ka ah!’
Then he started shouting at me and making aggressive movements. Sabi niya in defense ‘Hindi kita hinawakan nasagi ko lang kamay mo! Nakita mo ba hinawakan kita?!’”
The woman was waiting outside the mall with her officemates when a man went up to her and held her hand. This incident made her uncomfortable considering that he was standing really close to her when she didn’t know him at all.
When she asked why he did that, the man suddenly shouted at her in a loud manner.
“Syempre hindi ako tanga. Sino ba matinong tao yung biglang mang gagrab ng kamay ng hindi niya kilala, tapos nakatayo pa sa tabi ko, siya lang yung weirdong nasa tabi ko. Kasi yung ibang tao naglalakad dahil harap nga ng mall yun at maraming office duon. AND, nakita siya ng kasama ko at akala nga din ng kasama ko kilala ko siya.
So tinatanong ko siya kung bakit niya ginawa yun, at ayun na nga nagiging agresibo na siya, dinuduro niya ko. He even said ‘Bakit nabawasan ka o nasugatan ka?!’
JUSKO. In the back of my mind, sabi ko something is wrong with this guy. He’s unstable. Mapula yung mata at kung ano ano sinasabi.
Nung lumalapit siya at nangaamba, sabi ko ‘Mananakit ka ha?!’
Sabi niya ‘Oo sasaktan kita!’
Tapos bigla sya bumuwelo and then he was about to punch me with his right hand. Mabuti na lang yung guard nanunuod sa gilid namin and hinatak siya bigla. Kasi nga he was already making a scene at agresibo na so naka stand by sila dun.”
The man looked as if he has a short temper when he started making a scene. He made the woman crept out by making a strong form of physical contact and the way he acted when he should have said sorry instead.
What’s more shocking is the fact that the man tried to hit her – which fortunately, he didn’t succeed.
“Nung hinatak siya ng guard, susuntukin din niya yung guard kaya inawat siya ng isa pang guard na naka duty dun sa entrance ng pavilion.
After nun, dumating na yung police agad kasi nasa loob lang siya ng mall naka duty.
Tsaka lang siya kumalma nung dumating unt policeman then i started taking the video.
So pumunta kami sa police station, then sa investigation unit, at finally sa prosecutor’s office. Binigyan ko sya ng chance na umamin, mag explain at humingi ng tawad.
Guess what anong sabi niya:
“Parang gusto niya (me) kasi ako eh”
“Registered nurse ako pero ngayon wala akong trabaho, hindi naman ako ganun”
“Diko naman talaga hinawakan nasagi ko lang”
“Nakita ko kasi mukha niya eh syempre babae kasi. Di naman talaga hawak, naganun lang”
“Sorry na, sampalin mo na lang ako pakawalan niyo na ko”
“Sorry na di ka naman nabawasan eh di naman ako ganto sa babae”
“Bakit nasaktan ka ba? May sugat ka ba?”
“Dapat nga siya (ako daw) yung hulihin kasi kung ano ano sinasabi sakin (yung lalakeng nanghawak), pasalamat ka hindi ikaw yung inawat nung guard”
Sige, sabihan niyo ko na maarte ako or OA dahil nagfile ako ng case sa panghahawak ng kamay ko at muntik akong suntukin. Pero kaya mo din bang pakawalan yung ganyang lalake? Pano kung sainyo gawin yan? Pano kung sa kapatid nyong babae or anak nyong babae gawin yan? Paano kung hindi lang ako yung ginanyan nya at hindi lang lumaban ung ibang mga biktima nya? Papalampasin niyo ba?”
When the man was brought to the police station to explain, he gave irrational reasons saying such things as ‘she seemed to like me’ which even made the woman more annoyed than she already is.
“Kayang kaya kong palampasin yung ginawa nyang pambabastos, pero yung mananakit siya at siya pa galit? Hell no. Kelangan niya ng leksyon, at hahayaan ko na yung prosecutor na mag decide tungkol dun. He was given 3 options. 1) to file a motion and be detained for days while the motion is being reviewed, 2) bail out, 3) don’t file a motion and don’t go to jail but the case will go further without counter affidavit.
I don’t know what he chose pero umalis na ko together with our company’s security officer and my partner kasi we were really tired. Ang tagal ng inantay namin para makapag sampa ng kaso. Bahala na mamroblema yung kinasuhan ko dun.”
The woman said she could have accepted if he had apologized instead and didn’t act violently. However, she couldn’t ignore the fact that the man, who was a registered nurse himself, was a rude and perverted man.
It may appear that she was overreacting to some, but she just couldn’t disregard the violence showed by the man.
“Di ko to pinost para magpasikat o umepal sa news feed niyo. Pinost ko to for awareness. Hindi din intended tong post na to para ma-bash siya. Wala naman ako mapapala diba kung ma-bash siya.
PLEASE, LALO NA SA MGA KABABAIHAN. Matuto kayong dumepensa. Walang ibang lalaban para sa sarili ninyo. Kung hindi nyo kayang lumaban, humingi kayo ng tulong AGAD AGAD. Tulungan nyo din ang sarili n ninyo. Maraming nahaharass na mga babae dahil natatakot sila at di sila nanlalaban. Please have courage, lalo na kung alam mong tama ka.
MGA BABAE TAYO, HINDI TAYO DAPAT NA BINABASTOS O TINATAKOT LANG NG KUNG SINO SINO.”
According to her, up to this day, the man is still detained in Mandaluyong while she is waiting for the progress of the case she filed against him.
Moreover, she had discovered that the man had worked overseas and returned to the country. His old workmate in Dubai confirmed that he was really a pervert as there are a lot of complaints about him saying that they were harassed by the man and that he seemed as if he has some sort of a mental problem.
Netizens who had read her post were also furious because of how the man reacted.
The offender could have simply said that he didn’t mean to do what he had done and apologized instead of shouting and making a scene by acting violently.
In situations like this, offenders don’t really have the right to be mad when their victims try to stand up for themselves as sexual harassment isn’t something that should be disregarded.
Furthermore, the man wouldn’t have gotten mad in the first place if he didn’t really make a physical contact with the woman.
What do you think about this woman’s experience? Comment your thoughts below! (Reese Barcelon)
