By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
“…Ang mga solo parent na babae na nireregla pa, na’y malinaw na nireregla pa, at nalulungkot, minsan sa isang taon puwedeng sumiping sa akin.” (Solo moms, who are clearly still menstruating and lonely, can sleep with me just once a year.)
That was the joke “heard” around social media from the lips of Pasig congressional candidate, Ian Sia. His idea of humor — delivered as an icebreaker to the crowd in Barangay Pinagbuhatan like a punchline — has landed like a punch all right! But not to tickle the funny bone, but to reopen the wounds of every solo parent who has had to raise a child on grit and grace.
Sia introduces himself on his Facebook account as “Ang TagaPasig na CPA Lawyer at nagsimula ng FREE LEGAL ADVICE CLINIC.” But what kind of lawyer, what kind of man, spits out garbage so vile it implies single mothers could trade dignity for a yearly tryst with him?
There’s no wit in misogyny. There is no humor in the humiliation of single mothers. It’s just a man who mistook vulgarity for charisma and shame for applause. He realized as quickly as his infamous joke grew viral that he made a big mistake.
Now, let’s be fair. He has apologized, humbling himself in a press conference called at Kapasigan restaurant last week. He admitted his mistake. “I take responsibility,” he said.
I did check it out online and just felt iffy about it. Mr. Sia’s apology struck me as a somber choreography of a fallen saint, reeking of evasion. Instead of clean accountability, he undermined his own apology by blaming the video uploader for not providing the proper context that would — what? – give him an excuse to dish out such jokes that diminish the value of single mothers?
Then, he pulled off some “kamikaze” move to exploit the issue for political mudslinging. He pointed at trolls and political die-hards of his ticket’s rival, incumbent Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto, for bashing him on a national scale.
The wiser voters of Pasig, Mr. Sia, would easily read that as deflection, which is blaming others for your own folly. If you want context, here’s some: it was a public campaign event and you were supposed to woo voters to put you on their ballots as congressman. Was that your best attempt at winning their vote?
Sia did promise not to do it, again. Well, that too is expected and demanded of him. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) saw fit to issue a show-cause order motu proprio. That says something.
Even his own party mate, Shamcey Supsup-Lee — Miss Universe 2011 third runner-up, architect, former national pageant director, and now city council aspirant — wasn’t buying it. Using her words: “I’ve spoken to Atty. Ian and shared my thoughts with him directly. I believe we all have moments to learn from, and I hope this becomes one of them.” Polite but unmistakably pointed.
As for their ticket’s mayoral bet — Ate Sarah Discaya, I feel her slap-on-the-wrist reprimand only exposes how her team is more about sticking it out together, than dignity and accountability. I don’t know if barring Sia from three of its caucuses and campaign sorties would score points from the Pasig electorate.
Sia’s self-inflicted PR nightmare is the result of an indecent proposal — a sexist attempt at innuendo disguised as campaign humor — and a cringe-worthy pivot to play the role of the political martyr. He all but pointed at Vico’s camp, as if the real offense was getting called out. But no spin, no sob story, and definitely no amount of free legal advice can deodorize that.
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