Cendaña calls on candidates: Stop making ‘misogynistic, homophobic’ jokes

Party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña (center) poses for selfie with his supporters. Photo from Cendaña Facebook page.

MANILA, Philippines — Candidates running in the elections should stop using women and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and others (LGBTQI+) community for their sexist and misogynistic jokes during campaign sorties, Akbayan party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña said on Wednesday.

Cendaña in a statement said that the time of former President Rodrigo Duterte — known for his profanities and jokes about women — is already a thing of the past, and must not be emulated by candidates in the 2025 midterm elections.

“The time for obscenity to be a path towards election has finished.  That one most obscene person is currently at the Hague,” Cendaña, speaking in Filipino, said referring to Duterte.

The former President Duterte is currently under the custody of the International Criminal Court, which is based in the Hague, the Netherlands.

`Misogynistic and homophobic’

“Let us leave misogynistic at homophobic remarks as a thing of the past.  We understand that candidates want to make their speeches lively and memorable, but crude, sexist humor has no place in our politics,” he added.

According to Cendaña, voters could seek candidates’ campaign speeches — including these jokes — as a reflection of what kind of a leader he or she is.

“Leadership begins on the campaign trail. If you resort to demeaning jokes now, it’s a sign of how you will govern later. if you are making obscene and uncourteous statements during a campaign, you will also govern the people in a rude manner,” he noted.

“Let us start our sorties by being gender-sensitive so that when we are elected to the Senate, the Congress, or the local government, we will be gender-sensitive too and our policies will be empowering,” Cendaña added.

Recently, a number of candidates were caught red-handed making sexist jokes just to attract the attention of voters — prompting the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to issue show-cause orders against them.

Several of Cendaña’s colleagues in the House of Representatives have called out Pasig City congressional aspirant Ian Sia over his statements in a previous campaign sortie that lonely single mothers who still have menstruation can have sex with him.

Call on Pasig residents

No less than House Assistant Majority Leader and Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre called on Pasig residents to refrain from voting for Sia, who is running under the ticket of Pasig mayoral candidate Sarah Discaya.

READ: House official tells Pasig voters: Don‘t pick bets who disrespect women

However, Sia claimed the issue was blown out of proportion by his opponents.  But on Tuesday, Comelec again asked Sia to explain his words — this time due to his remarks about his assistant’s physical appearance.

READ: Comelec asks Pasig bet: Explain remarks on assistant’s appearance

Misamis Oriental Governor Peter Unabia, who is seeking reelection, also found himself on hot waters for saying that only beautiful women should be qualified to be a nurse, as ugly ones would only make patients remain unwell.

Unabia also claimed that if his ticket loses in the midterm polls, Maranaos would dominate the province and its capital Cagayan de Oro City, allegedly bringing in instability just like in the Bangsamoro region.

Comelec issued a show-cause order also for Unabia.

READ: Comelec orders Misamis Oriental gov to explain sexist, racist remarks

It seems Comelec would be busy tackling these issues as just earlier, it issued another show-cause order against Davao de Oro 2nd District Rep. Ruwel Peter Gonzaga, who is running for the province’s gubernatorial post.

Remarks against a widow

Gonzaga was caught making misogynistic remarks against a widow — ordering board member candidate Nene Atamosa to stand in front of a crowd with a certain village councilor, before asking the two to kiss.

The lawmaker also made sexually charged remarks to Atamosa.

“I am telling you, Nene Atamosa is a widow of 14 years.  I am sure her ‘something’ is already closed. Will you try to make it loose?” he said in the local language.

Former assistant secretary and now aspiring Manila councilor Mocha Uson also was asked by the poll body to explain her campaign jingle entitled “Cookie ni Mocha.”

Just this Monday, gender equality advocate and Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman lamented Uson’s choice of a campaign jingle, saying that she wasted her platform and dented the fight against women objectification.

Uson, a key figure during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s tenure, is now running under the ticket of Manila mayoral candidate Isko Moreno.  Even before the official start of the local campaign period, Uson had used her campaign jingle by giving out cookies and asking people how Mocha’s cookie tasted.

Uson had already asked her team to stop using the jingle.

Cendaña meanwhile called on the public to take a stand against these verbally-abusive remarks, noting that there are existing laws that can be used under these circumstances — like Republic Act No. 11313 or the Safe Spaces Act.

The lawmaker said concerned citizens can also report violations to barangay authorities, the Philippine National Police’s Women and Children Desks, or the Commission on Human Rights

“This is not a simple joke,” said Cendaña. “Sexist remarks have real consequences. It’s time to end them and uphold respect and dignity in our elections.”