The barangay councilor who drew the public's ire for posting a tarpaulin in his community pantry in Bulacan that was degrading to women has apologized.
Marbin Garcia of Barangay Maysantol said in a Facebook post on Wednesday it was not his intention to disrespect women when he allowed a tarpaulin to be placed in the pantry which said: "Kumuha ng ayon sa laki ng suso (Get according to your breast size)." The tarpaulin also bears the face of YouTube and social media influencer Toni Fowler.
He said he only wanted to give joy to those who are going to the community pantry which he organized on May 3.
"Hindi namin naging layunin na makasakit ng damdamin o makabastos ng kahit sino lalo na ang ating mga kababaihan, dahil kagaya ng lahat sa atin, ako ay may ina, kapatid, at mga kamag-anak na babae na kahit kailan ay di ko nanaisin na mabastos (It wasn't our intention to hurt anyone's feelings or to disrespect anyone, especially women, because I have a mother, a sister, and female relatives who I will never want to be disrespected)," Garcia said.
The councilor said that if he really committed something that was wrong, he would apologize for it. He added that he only wanted to lighten the mood of the people going to the pantry amid these challenging times.
"Pero kung kami at may mga nasaktan, kami ay humihingi ng tawad (If we have offended anyone, we are asking for your forgiveness)," he added.
Garcia was criticized on social media for displaying the tarpaulin that allegedly "disrespected" and "degraded" women.
Some said it was not even funny as it was a form of body shaming and he could have thought of a unique, not offensive or degrading to women way of promoting the community pantry.