PPCRV: Sexist remarks a ‘wake-up call’ for voting wisely
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MANILA, Philippines — The discriminatory remarks made by some candidates against women during their campaign sorties should serve as a “wake-up call” for Filipino voters to choose better leaders, a Catholic Church-affiliated election watchdog said.
Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), which is among the two citizen arms accredited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the May 12 midterm polls, urged voters to choose candidates who espouse key values promoted by the Church. These include being “God-fearing, honest, polite, industrious, helpful, and nationalistic.”
“These should be a wake-up call. We have to be very discerning in choosing our leaders—it should not be based on personality politics, if they are cute or good at telling jokes,” PPCRV spokesperson Ana Singson said in an interview on Monday.
READ: More solons call out Pasig congressional bet over sexist remarks
Singson said the public backlash these candidates are getting should also serve as a wake-up call and make them realize that Filipino voters are “smarter now.”
“Filipinos are not content with just an ‘OK’ politician. We have learned so much. We experienced in the past so many underprivileged sectors of our society who are insulted. We need leaders who will respect them,” she said.
The Comelec’s antidiscrimination task force has so far issued five show cause orders against four male candidates who were found to have made unsavory remarks about women: two for Pasig congressional candidate Christian Sia; and one each for Misamis Oriental reelectionist Gov. Peter Unabia, incumbent Mataas na Kahoy Vice Mayor Jay Ilagan, who is gunning for a gubernatorial post in Batangas, and incumbent Davao de Oro Rep. Ruwel Peter Gonzaga, who is running for governor.
Emboldened by Duterte
University of the Philippines (UP) professor Jean Encinas Franco said this spate of sexist and misogynistic remarks spewed by some candidates, mostly running in the local race, can be attributed to former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Franco, a professor of political science at UP Diliman, said Duterte, known for making controversial remarks against women, somehow “emboldened” these bets.
“He actually had a very high approval at the end of his term and [he] emboldened these candidates who are making these misogynistic and sexist remarks,” she told the Inquirer in a phone interview.
Considering that most of these remarks were caught on camera and posted online by voters and constituents themselves, this only means that Filipinos now have more public awareness.
For Franco, actions from the Comelec and the Supreme Court won’t suffice.
“Political parties must be capacitated to understand the harm [that] misogyny and sexism [do] to voters and to their opponents,” Franco said.
She noted that only 20 percent of those who ran in the previous elections were women, and this can be a “consequence of sexism.”
“This is the long-term work we need to do, creating awareness that this is bad and telling people about the consequences,” Franco said.
On Tuesday, the poll body issued Comelec Resolution No. 11127, beefing up its antidiscrimination and fair campaigning guidelines contained in Comelec Resolution No. 11116, issued in February.
The older resolution prohibits, among others, gender-based harassment, such as misogynistic and sexist slurs, as well as sexual jokes during any election-related activity, including campaigns.
The new resolution included more prohibited acts during any election activity, such as espousing immoral doctrines, authoring obscene publications and exhibitions, and conducting indecent shows; racial discrimination; child abuse; and incitement or advocacy of national, racial, or religious hatred that leads to the promotion of discrimination, hostility, or violence.
Any violation of the resolutions is treated as an election offense punishable by imprisonment up to six years without probation, disqualification from public office, and deprivation of the right to vote.
