Woman literally strikes back at man who sexually harassed her in a bus

While a campaign against sexual harassment in Mexico has been sparking debate, a local commuter here in the Philippines took a firmer stand against groping in public transportation — she punched and elbowed a man who grabbed her left breast in a bus.

Alyssa Fernandez on March 23 posted on Facebook her experience inside a BBL bus, traveling from Santa Rosa, Laguna to Cubao, Quezon City. She sat between a man she pegged was in his late 30s or early 40s and a female med student.

"It's a sunny day and there wasn't much traffic. Ang ganda ng araw. Naka-button down long sleeves ako and cropped pants. Ang init. I put my earphones on and closed my eyes. Pumikit lang ako, pero hindi ako natulog," Fernandez detailed in her post.

She said that she had earlier felt the man poking her left arm. "I thought nasanggi lang ako so I didn't mind him." However, minutes later, Fernandez revealed: "I felt A WHOLE FUCKING HAND CUPPING MY LEFT BOOB. A. WHOLE. HAND."

Fernandez said that she didn't want to be petrified by shock and made a decision to fight for herself and for all the women who has ever been groped.

"Hinampas, siniko at sinuntok ko siya," she wrote. "Pero feeling ko mahina. Feeling ko not enough. Sana kinurot ko. Sana sinuntok ko sa mukha. Sana nilakasan ko pa."

She then repeatedly asked the man if he had children or a wife and berated him: "Ang tanda tanda mo na bakit ganyan ka pa????"

"He was saying sorry. Sorry na miss, tama na. TAMA NA???? SANA HINDI MO GINAWA???? ANONG MAGAGAWA NG SORRY MO???? Galit na galit ako. I was shaking. Akala niya hindi ako lalaban???? I was screaming at him. The bus was still full. People were looking. They should be looking," Fernandez continued.

The conductor intervened at this point, but Fernandez said he only aggravated the situation by dismissing the altercation as hysterics.

"'Wag na dito gumawa ng gulo at mapag-uusapan naman 'yan sa baba," she said quoting the conductor.

"What bothers me more is what the barker said, as if what happened wasn't really a big deal. As if he wanted me to shut up. Why won't it be a big deal? And even more, why would I shut up?" Fernandez lamented.

She then urged other women to strike back, literally if necessary, against similar cases of sexual harassment.

"To the women who commute every day, please please please take care. And if anything like this happens to you, draw all the courage you got to shout and fight back. Kaya ninyo 'yan. Know that you DO NOT deserve to be treated that way. You don't. Show them they can't do shit like that to you, because sadly may mga tao pa ring hindi marunong umasta ng ayos," she wrote.

And for men who feel like groping is not offensive and should be easily forgiven, Fernandez left a strong message: "To the men who can't keep their hands to themselves, fuck you. We're not yours to touch."

Fernandez in a brief chat exchange on Sunday told GMA News Online that she will report the incident to the police.

She said that had BBL reached out to her about the incident. "I found out that the conductor lied to them and said that he told me to go to the police — which he never did."

Three people have messaged her to disclose the identity of the sexual harasser and the news has reached his employers, who told Fernandez that they are conducting their own investigation.

"I'm still gonna see how that would go about pero what I'm sure of doing is a blotter. Nakakapagod na rin, having to deal with this every day," she said. —ALG, GMA News