Image: Instagram/@frankiepangilinan
MANILA, Philippines — Musician and social media personality Frankie Pangilinan on Tuesday rallied for a “denormalizing” of rape culture in the Philippines.
Speaking in online forum Women at Thomson Reuters, Pangilinan underscored the importance of taking part in a “bigger, wider solution” to quash such a culture and make people accountable.
“People disregard that bigger cultural solution that we all have is educating people correctly, and people tend to ignore that in favor of the prevention angle,” pointed out Pangilinan.
“I think that we should all be working together towards the bigger, wider solution, which is, again, that denormalizing it, call it out. Hold our friends and loved ones accountable when we hear those things.”
“We have to destroy the idea that prevention is better than solution,” she also said.
In June, the 19-year-old daughter of Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan and veteran singer-actress Megastar Sharon Cuneta caused a stir when she fired back at TV personality Ben Tulfo for his remark that women should be wary about how they wear so they won’t be harassed.
Her hashtag #HijaAko soon became a trending topic on Twitter, as it empowered others to open up about their own personal experiences of sexual harassment.
READ: Lauren Young, Janina Vela tell own #HijaAko stories of sexual harassment
‘Heartbreaking but empowering’
As the hashtag #HijaAko spurred a discussion on rape culture, Pangilinan said that reading tweets from other people who shared their own experience of being harassed was “heartbreaking, but at the same time, it was so empowering.”
“I was very much inspired by the bravery of all those people,” she said.
She then encouraged everyone to “do your part” in ending rape culture and victim-blaming.
“If we’re gonna disable a system in its entirety, we need to disable every part of it,” Pangilinan stressed.
“When you do your part, I know that sounds kind of cliché, but your part is determined by you. But at the same time, it’s very much determined by your circumstance, and no one can take your part away from you,” she added.