Pasig House bet in hot water over offensive remarks vs single moms

“Ian” Sia, who’s running for congressman in Pasig, asking him to explain why a complaint for election offense and/or a petition for disqualification should not be filed against him for derogatory remarks he made about single mothers during a recent campaign sortie.

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The Comelec’s Task Force on Safeguarding Against Fear and Ex-clusion in Elections (SAFE) cited Sia’s comments about single mothers during a campaign event on April 3.

He was quoted saying: “Ito ang ambag ko sa mga solo parent ng Pasig. Minsan sa isang taon, ang mga solo parent na babae na nireregla Pa-nay, malinaw nireregla pa, at na-lulungkot. Minsan sa isang taon pu-wede sumiping ho sa akin (This is my contribution to the single parents of Pasig. Once a year, the single mothers who are still menstruating. Mostly, to be clear, those who still menstruate or feel sad. Once a year, they can sleep with me).”

“The task force said that this con-stitutes a possible violation of Come-lec Resolution No. 1116 or the Anti-Discrimination and Fair Campaigning Guidelines for Purposes of the May 2025 National and Local Elections and BARMM Parliamentary elections.

Under Section 3 of the resolu-tion, during the election period, any person who, directly or indirectly, commits acts of bullying on the basis of HIV status, coercion, discrimina-tion against women, discrimination against PWDs on the use of public accommodations, gender-based ha-rassment, labeling, public ridicule against PWDs, vilification of PWDs, violation of an anti-discrimination ordinance, and/or violation of rights to religious, cultural sites and cer-emonies as defined under Section 2 of this Resolution shall be liable for an election offense.

The Comelec resolution states that for gender-based harassment, it refers to any unwanted and un-invited sexual actions or remarks against any person regardless of the motive, whether in-person or online, broadcast or in print, during the elec-tion period, for any election-related activity including but not limited to campaign activities.

The resolution also states that this is pursuant to Sec. 13 of Republic Act (RA) 9006 and Section 261 (e) of the Omnibus Election Code and other pertinent laws, rules and regulations.