Asked for their side of the issue, Press Secretary Fermin Meriang said that they would not respond or make a statement regarding the issue as they doubt the source and authenticity of the allegations, which have been posted in the social networking site Facebook
“The president hasn’t read yet the contents of the posting. Normally, we don’t respond or comment to anything that is “trash”, Meriang said. “The president has much more important things to address than that.”
In her Facebook post, the woman claimed that there were two incidents where Pres. Toribiong allegedly tried to sexually harass her.
In the first incident, she claimed that the president cornered her in a bathroom.
“He hugged me unexpectedly and then tried to kiss me. I calmly declined and asked that he please not do this, because he is the president and my uncle and I have a lot of respect for him. I also told him that I think he is drunk and that he should consider his actions,” the woman narrated.
The alleged victim has been living and managing a family business in the Philippines
Pres. Toribiong, his wife Valeria and members of his government were in the Philippines from October 10 to 16 to attend to several functions and activities hosted by the Philippine government. One of those events was a two-day annual regional investment conference held in Manila from October 14-15.
The woman, who goes by the name Melani Amanda Hicks on Facebook, said that the incident was repeated for the second time a few days later.
She claimed that she went hanging out with some Palauan friends in the hotel where the president was meeting with several foreign officials.
“So, here we are at the hotel and the president is there in a separate table meeting with some foreign officials when he called me over and told me that Aunty Balech was also there and that I should go say hi,” she said.
The woman then narrated that the president invited her to join their meeting.
“A few minutes later, the president invited me to sit with him and these officials and we talked about Palau and they asked me questions about what I do so I told them about my ongoing projects which pertain to environmental awareness programs,” she further narrated.
After the meeting ended, she related that she received a phone call from the president asking her to meet him to discuss the projects she was doing and he expressed his pride about it.
“I went into the room and he immediately hugged me and tried to kiss me so I pushed him off of me and respectfully asked him to please not do that. I also said that I have too much respect for him, my aunty and myself and that I am going through enough already for him to be doing that to me. He then grabbed my face and tried to kiss me and I pushed him away, and that was only then that he ended his advances on me,” she alleged.
The woman said that she had nothing against the president in coming with such serious allegations, but only to make an example for all women who have been abused or taken advantage of by high officials
“I am sick and tired of seeing these Palau men come to the Philippines and make it their play ground by using government to have a good time and exploit the women here,” she ended.
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