Do you know what we hate hearing in the morning? Victim-blaming from newscasters. A couple of days ago, Anthony Taberna did just that on Umagang Kay Ganda and he drew flak for it. The show also called on him to discuss his remarks.
Spoken word artist Juan Miguel Severo shared the video clip of the gang-rape story that Umagang Kay Ganda was covering. Anthony said that the girl was at fault for meeting up with a group of men. “Ito po’y hindi first time na nangyari. Napakadami nang pagkakataon na nangyari yang eyeball-eyeball na ‘yan. At ang mas delikado, nakipag-eyeball ka na nga, nakipag-inuman ka pa. ‘Yun a problema.” (This isn’t the first time it has happened. There have been meet-up incidents like that. What’s more dangerous, you already met up with a stranger, you drank with them too. That’s the problem.)
Although his co-host Jeff Canoy reminded everyone that the blame should be placed on the rapists, Anthony still insisted that this is normal behavior for men. “Pasensya, dun sa biktima na ‘yun, dapat mabigyan ng katarungan. Pero eto para sa future na mga pangyayari: kapag ikaw ay babae, ‘wag kang papasok sa lungga ng mga tulisan.” (I apologize to the victim, she should be given justice. But here’s advice for the future: if you’re a woman, don’t go inside dangerous territory.)
Oh, wow. All our problems have been solved. Thanks, Mr. Taberna.
Umagang Kay Ganda responded to Juan Miguel and said that they’ve “called the attention of Anthony Taberna” and they are already “addressing the matter.” This also came after netizens demanded for his expulsion from the network.
This isn’t the first time that a newscaster has victim-blamed this year. Ted Failon and Noli De Castro was recently criticized for telling women not to sleep in ride-sharing vehicles to avoid being harassed by drivers.
We hope Anthony learns his lesson from his actions. Also, just a stern reminder: the burden of sexual assault and rape should NEVER be on the victim, especially a woman.
Photo courtesy of Anthony Taberna’s Instagram account
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