Comelec reacted to this viral joke made by a politician in Pasig
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will take action against Pasig congressional candidate Christian “Ian” Sia because of his solo parent joke.
Candidates for local positions have started holding caucuses and campaign events to encourage the voters to choose them when they cast their votes on May 12 for the midterm elections.
It is a normal scenario in the Philippines that during campaign events, some entertaining moments were offered to get the attention of the people. There could be some dance and song performances even from politicians themselves. They also took an extra effort when it comes to their speeches with anecdotes or funny stories.
However, Christian Sia, who is running for congressman of Pasig, received criticism for his solo parent joke. He said that solo parents, who are women and still have their monthly periods, can sleep with him.
This did not sit well with many netizens, and he received bashing online because of this. Even Sia’s party mate actress Ara Mina was criticized because netizens noticed that she laughed along with the joke despite the fact that it was about solo parents.
After the circulation of the viral clip, Comelec condemned the Pasig congressional candidate, based on the article in ABS-CBN News.
“Bakit kailangan bumaba sa level na ganyan sa pangangampanya?” Comelec Chairman George Garcia said.
He also said that children would somehow watch this with the thinking that this kind of joke is okay. The Comelec chief stressed that even though it was a joke, it was not a good joke.
He said that he could not let the incident pass. Garcia pointed out that if this were allowed to just pass, people would think that it is just okay for politicians to do this on stage and in front of the public.
“Pag pinabayaan natin, para namang walang kwenta ang Comelec kung ‘yung ganyang mga biro lang hahayaan natin…Mag jo-joke at mag jo-joke na lang ang mga kandidato sa kung kanino, directed sa relihiyon, sa mga may kapansanan, sa mga nakakatanda, directed sa ilang vulnérable sectors,” the Comelec chief said.
If this happens, Garcia said that it is better not to have elections. “Hindi na election, joke na lang ang ihahalal natin dito. Kung sino pinakamagandang joke o pinakabastos na joke, ‘yun na lang ang paraan ng paghalal,” he said.
The Comelec has already sent a Show Cause Order document to Sia. In the document, the aspiring congressman was reminded of the election rules.