‘Historic:’ Pasig bet Ian Sia DQ’d over sexist remarks
Christian Sia—Christian Sia/Facebook
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has disqualified Christian Sia, a candidate for Pasig City’s lone congressional seat, over his sexist jokes about single mothers and the physical appearance of a former female staff member during campaign sorties last month.
In a 10-page resolution dated May 7, the three members of the Comelec’s Second Division voted unanimously to disqualify Sia from running and said that, should he win, his proclamation would be suspended.
This is the first time a candidate has been disqualified for violating the poll body’s antidiscriminatory and fair campaigning guidelines.
“This is historic, I should say,” Comelec Chair George Garcia said in a press conference in Manila on Thursday.
The poll body’s Task Force Safe (Safeguarding Against Fear and Exclusion in Elections) filed on April 16 a case against Sia for violating Section 261 of the Omnibus Election Code and Section 3 of Comelec Resolution No. 11116, which prohibits discrimination against women and certain sectors during the campaign period.
READ: Comelec body files DQ case vs Ian Sia over lewd remarks on single moms
The move was taken after Sia, in a campaign caucus in Pasig City on April 3, jokingly offered sexual favors to single, menstruating mothers once a year.
In another caucus on the same day, Sia also made a remark that seemingly “fat-shamed” his former assistant, also a woman.
‘Objectifying, degrading’
“The quoted remarks of the respondent delivered in a public forum and directed at solo parents were sexually suggestive, objectifying and degrading. By presenting intimacy with him as a form of support to solo mothers, even in jest, [he] reduced a vulnerable sector of women to objects of sexual gratification, trivializing their struggles and reinforcing harmful stereotypes,” the Second Division said.
His remark about the weight of his former staffer, on the other hand, “constitutes clear body-shaming and subjected her to unnecessary and unwanted scrutiny,” it noted.
Sia’s comments were “sexist, demeaning and objectifying, and served no political purpose,” the division said.
In his defense, Sia invoked his right to free speech and said the language and tone in his remarks were “everyday banter” expected of ordinary people. He added that he had no intention of discriminating against or offending anybody.
Below standards
The division, however, disagreed, saying his remarks “were not only unlawful but offensive to the principles that guide fair and respectful elections.”
“His statements fall far below the standards required of those who wish to serve the people. Public office demands better, and the people deserve no less,” it said.
At the same time, the Comelec’s Committee on Kontra Bigay (CKB) cleared senatorial candidate Camille Villar of allegations she engaged in vote-buying during a raffle held in Imus City, Cavite, in February.
The CKB, in its May 7 reply to Villar’s answer to the show-cause order issued against her on April 22, said she “satisfactorily explained the circumstances surrounding the reported act ….”
READ: Ian Sia’s DQ over lewd remarks a win for women – Gabriela
“Upon evaluation of the evidence gathered, the undersigned deems the same insufficient to proceed [with] the filing of a complaint for election offense and/or a petition for disqualification,” said Teopisto Elnas Jr., CKB vice chair.
In a statement, Villar welcomed the poll body’s resolution. “I thank the Comelec for the timely issuance of this resolution, junking the complaint of vote-buying. I assure everyone that I am running on a clean platform, pursuing only my advocacies that aim to make lives better for the Filipinos,” she said.
Villar defended herself from the accusation of an anonymous complainant about her attendance at a raffle event in Cavite, saying the activity happened on Feb. 9, ahead of the start of the campaign period for national candidates.
The CKB also took into consideration the several affidavits presented by Villar’s camp to dispute the vote-buying allegations.
