Ian Sia’s joke on single moms may cost him the elections – group
Pasig City congressional candidate Ian Sia is under ire for remarks addressed to female single parents during his speech. Photo from Sia’s Facebook page.
MANILA, Philippines — Jona, a 47-year-old vendor in Pasig City market, lies down on her bed after a whole day’s work. After she was widowed years ago, her phone became her sole companion.
While scrolling through her Facebook feed, she saw the video of Pasig City lone representative candidate Atty. Christian “Ian” Sia joking about single moms like her.
At a campaign caucus in Pasig on April 3, Sia jokingly offered sexual favors to single mothers—but only for those still menstruating—once in a year.
READ: DSWD calls out Pasig House bet Ian Sia for joke vs single moms: ‘Not funny’
His remarks roused Jona, who was then on the verge of sleeping.
“I can’t help but post a comment,” the single mom, who withheld her last name, told INQUIRER.net in an interview on Tuesday. “If it’s a joke, then it’s not a good joke.”
“Even if I am a single mom, I am not looking for such a thing,” she added.
Jona’s husband was a seafarer who was 40 years old when he died due to heart enlargement in 2022.
He left Jona an 11-year-old daughter, whom she is raising alone, juggling household chores and her work at the vegetable stall.
“I am busy—how could I think of such things?” Jona said.
While not being a registered voter, she lives in Barangay San Miguel.
“But even if I were, I will not vote for that kind of person who is bastos (disrespectful),” she said.
Sia told to ‘just withdraw’
According to Jona, people around her share the same sentiment.
“There is no need to convince people here not to vote for him anyway,” she said, believing that Sia’s opponent will be a shoo-in in the midterm polls.
A poll watchdog lead convenor also believes that Sia’s remarks will surely harm his campaign.
“Definitely, it will affect his candidacy,” Kontra Daya convenor Danilo Arao told INQUIRER.net over the phone on Tuesday.
“That’s why a face-saving measure for him would be to just simply withdraw,” Arao, an associate journalism professor, added.
Any publicity good is publicity?
Arao also said the oft-quoted adage that “any publicity is good publicity” would not apply to Sia’s situation.
“Obviously, it’s possible to seize the narrative or to control the narrative, so to speak,” Arao said. “But the question here is, do you have the time to do that?”
“I doubt if there is adequate time for him to put things back in his favor,” he added.
Sia has since apologized for his remarks, but Arao pointed out that his apology even made his case worse.
“He just simply said sorry if someone got offended. He even blamed the other camp, his political opponents, for blowing things out of proportion,” Arao said. “So that kind of gaslighting really doesn’t work.”
More backlash
The Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) anti-discrimination panel issued its first show cause against Sia on Friday, the deadline of which is on Tuesday.
Sia has yet to respond to this show cause order. If he remains unresponsive, the Comelec panel deems it as a waiver of his right to be heard, according to Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia.
A second show cause order was issued by the panel against him on Tuesday, this time over remarks which appear to fat shame his former assistant, also a woman.
READ: Sorry is not enough, Comelec chief tells Pasig bet
Solo Parents partylist also filed an election offense case against Sia last Friday.
READ: Solo Parents Party-list files election case vs Pasig bet Christian Sia
Garcia said the election offense complaint and the other possible complaints to be filed by the task force against Sia could be consolidated.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court (SC) ordered Sia to explain why he should not face disciplinary action over his remarks on single moms.
READ: Women’s group seeks SC sanction vs Pasig bet
The SC’s show cause order stemmed from the complaint filed by Gabriela Women’s Party.
The high court has the power to discipline members of the Bar and Bench, including the issuance of reprimands, warnings, suspension, and even disbarment.
“He’s better off withdrawing his candidacy and should [instead] take the time to focus on the petition at the Supreme Court,” Arao said.
“That’s a more serious problem. In the elections he will just lose his chance to become a district representative,” he said, “but if the case prospers in the Supreme Court, he might lose his job as a lawyer or his practice altogether.”
