Leody De Guzman slams ‘misogyny’ accusations over women leader criticisms

Labor leader and presidential aspirant Leody de Guzman on Saturday denounced accusations that he is a misogynist for criticizing women leaders.

"Nagkataon lang na sa kasaysayan ay may mga significant na mga papel na ginampanan ang mga babae, pero hindi naman ako misogynist. Taga-promote nga ako ng womens' rights, tagapag-promote ako ng divorce," De Guzman said in a Facebook live.

(It so happened in history that women have played significant roles, but I am not a misogynist. I'm a promoter of women's rights and divorce.)

"Nagkataon lang sa history, kay Marcos ang pinalit natin si Cory [Aquino], People Power. Kay Erap [Estrada] nagalit tayo, pinalit natin si Gloria [Arroyo], People Power II naman 'yon, wala ring nangyari."

(It just so happened that, historically, we replaced Marcos with Cory then People Power happened. We were angry with Erap, we replaced him with Gloria [Arroyo] during People Power II, but nothing happened.)

De Guzman maintained it was not so much about the gender of the leaders, but about problems with the country's system.

The labor leader also expressed his support for the LGBTQ community.

Additionally, Filipinos have always voted for alleged billionaires and candidates funded by big businesses, which have different interests than the masses.

De Guzman said he was also pushing for "progressive taxation" to address inequality between the rich and the poor. Filipinos would be taxed based on income, and not based on products.

"If you tax the people based on products, it is not progressive because the expenses of the ordinary people and billionaires will be the same." — DVM, GMA News