6 days Ago By Nini B. Cabaero
With several local candidates receiving show cause orders from the Commission on Elections (Comelec), perhaps it is time we moved beyond warnings and started implementing concrete measures to stop the use of misogynistic and discriminatory language on the campaign trail.Requiring candidates to attend a crash course on gender sensitivity and laws protecting vulnerable groups might be a little late, especially with less than a month left in the campaign period. But better late than never.
These sessions can be done online or in person, and I’m confident the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and organizations like Gabriela and others advocating for women’s and children’s rights will be able to organize them on short notice.Making these sessions mandatory would require a Comelec resolution, which could take time. But nothing will stop political parties from encouraging their candidates to attend voluntarily, for now, once the sessions are organized.
Political parties can also take an active role by naming a “gender champion” within each campaign team. This person can be tasked with guiding candidates on appropriate conduct and keeping them in line. Again, organizations with this advocacy, I imagine, would willingly work with these parties in a monitoring capacity, not as partisans but as watchdogs for decency.
The Comelec’s show cause orders, while a step in the right direction, are not exactly proving to be a deterrent. Thus, the other measures suggested above.It started with Pasig congressional candidate Christian Sia trying to enliven his speech by saying that single mothers, “those who still menstruate, and who are lonely,” may sleep with him once a year.
The Comelec promptly issued him a show cause order on why he shouldn’t face an election offense complaint or a petition for disqualification for discrimination and gender-based harassment. A second show cause order was issued against him last week, this time over allegedly fat-shaming his former assistant, also a woman.Then came Misamis Oriental Gov.
Peter Unabia, who reportedly claimed that only “beautiful women” deserved nursing scholarships from the provincial government. He also made a thinly veiled discriminatory comment warning voters about candidates tied to the Maranaos and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. Another show cause order.
Others cited in show cause orders were Nueva Ecija gubernatorial candidate Virgilio Bote, who allegedly mocked a rival’s battle with cancer, and Batangas gubernatorial candidate Jay Ilagan, who dismissed his opponent, Vilma Santos-Recto, as “laos” (a has-been) because of her age.In nearly all these cases, the defense was the same. Their remarks were said “in jest” to keep the crowd awake and entertained.
But the joke, as it turns out, was on single parents, women and the marginalized.Words matter during campaigns because they reflect the character of the person seeking public office, and excusing problematic behavior as a joke normalizes disrespect and discrimination.The Comelec’s show cause orders are an important first step.
But what is needed is a cultural shift that holds candidates to a higher standard of respect and accountability..
