De La Salle University (DLSU) sacked a part-time faculty who posted a malicious post against Senator Risa Hontiveros, its official campus paper said.
According to The Lasallian story published Monday, a teacher from Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business (RVRCOB) posted in social media, a statement was implying Hontiveros should be sexually abused inside a jail.
“I recommend she (Hontiveros) teach the prisoners in Bilibid Prison not to rape. Closed-door session,” the now-deleted post reportedly read.
The Lasallian said the post surfaced after the Senator criticized the victim-blaming social media post of Lucban Municipal Police Station.
“There is no dress code for rape. Or for sexual harassment. Instead of teaching women how to dress, we should teach men not to rape,” Hontiveros previously said.
A Change.org online petition condemning the DLSU faculty’s post garnered more than 1,400 signatures as of Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the DLSU University Student Government also slammed the social media post of the faculty member.
“There is a circulating post from a faculty member with a screenshot of a statement of Sen. Risa Hontiveros on victim blaming and rape culture. The post was alluding that the Senator be sexually harassed by prisoners,” DLSU USG said.
“This behavior is one that we have no tolerance for and does not reflect our values and morals as an institution. It is distasteful and offensive for anyone to suggest such a horrific act to happen to another person, especially to one of the leaders fighting for a safer society for the marginalized and the voiceless,” it added.
“We call on members of the Lasallian community to never be complicit or silent when such discriminatory and misogynistic acts happen. Your USG will continue lobbying for our Safe Spaces Initiative to ensure that we are all protected from harassment, misogyny, and discrimination,” it said.
University Student Government, Marketing and Advertising Department chairperson Mary Julie Balabar said the behavior of the part-time teacher, who had been teaching in DLSU for the past seven years, has been called out.
“He apologized for his post and has taken it down. He mentioned [that] it was not his intention to insinuate harassment for Sen. Hontiveros nor promote the prevalent rape culture present today,” Balabar said.