JOKES AND A JINGLE: SEXISM AND MISOGYNY ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

SEXISM AND MISOGYNY, ALREADY TOUCHY ISSUES IN DAY-TO-DAY LIFE, REARED THEIR UGLY HEADS DURING THE CAMPAIGN PERIOD FOR THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS. THE COMELEC AND THE PEOPLE REACTED BY FIRMLY SAYING “ENOUGH!”

In the Philippines, the traditional election campaign often includes the Three Gs: guns, goons, and gold. To this list could be added a fourth G: girls. While guns and goons are used to intimidate, and gold to buy support, girls are often used for entertainment or as subjects of degrading jokes. Women’s rights advocate Gabriela Women’s Party may have a valid point in its suggestion to add a fourth G. The run-up to the recently concluded midterm elections provided a clear glimpse of how some candidates—intentionally or otherwise—could use sexist and misogynistic behavior to court votes.

Simply put, sexism is the belief that one sex is superior to another. This gender-based discrimination, prejudice, or stereotyping is most often expressed toward women and girls. On the other hand, misogyny is the hatred of, contempt for, or disregard for women or girls. It involves hostile attitude toward women based on the belief that they are inferior to men.

Sexism and Misogyny on the Campaign Trail

SINGLE WHAT?

In early April, Pasig City congressional candidate Christian Sia joked that he was willing to sleep once a year with single mothers who are “still menstruating.” An uploaded video clip of the candidate making said statement quickly went viral, opening a floodgate of negative comments. Sia initially blamed the video uploader and his political opponents for blowing the issue out of proportion.

The joke in question, he said, was simply meant to liven up the crowd. He explained that the joke came about after a previous meeting with solo parents. He had used it in other gatherings before the sortie where the video was taken, and that his audiences did not seem offended, leading him to assume that such kind of joke is okay.

The Philippine Commission on Women (PCW), however, disagreed. In an official statement, the commission stressed that “[p]ublic platforms must not be used to normalize sexist humor or reinforce harmful stereotypes under the guise of entertainment.” The PCW is the country’s policymaking, advisory, and coordinating body focusing on the development of gender-responsive policies and promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. Gabriela flagged Sia’s joke even as the group noted that it was not the first incident of women being “subjected to displays of machismo and misogynistic remarks from candidates who believe such behavior will win them votes.” For its part, election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting reminded candidates to set good examples by being the first to uphold gender-related laws such as the Safe Spaces Act and Magna Carta for Women.

 Sia apologized for his joke, recognizing that he had gone too far and that “the things that single mothers go through [are] not a joking matter.” Sia was eventually disqualified by the Comelec’s Second Division days before the election.

BEAUTIFUL NURSES ONLY?

On the same day as Sia’s misstep, reelectionist Misamis Oriental Governor Peter Unabia made headlines after talking about his nursing scholarship program that is available “only for beautiful women… because if a male patient is already weak and an ugly nurse attends to him, his condition could worsen.”

A video clip of the candidate’s speech was uploaded by a young voter, who described it as sexist. Baguio-based nurse and journalist Mia Magdalena Fokno described Unabia’s statement as “not just sexist” but also “medically unsound and ethically wrong.” “Saying nursing scholarships should be for ‘beautiful women only’ turns a noble profession into a beauty contest,” she lamented. “Nursing is not about looks. It’s about skill, compassion, and courage.”

Noting how “Unabia’s words insult women, erase men, and reduce patients to shallow stereotypes,” Fokno called on others to correct the distorted view “by calling it out and by pushing for leaders who respect the dignity of work, not the illusion of beauty. We owe it to future nurses to create a culture that values competence over appearances.” Comelec issued a show cause order against the governor for violating Comelec Resolution No. 1116. The poll body also reiterated that “sexist remarks and gender discrimination have no place in a civilized society.” It eventually sought to disqualify Unabia for his sexist statement.

WANT SOME COOKIES?

Male candidates did not have a monopoly of supposed misogyny, sexism, and related acts during the campaign. Manila city council bet Mocha Uson was asked by Comelec to clarify the sexually suggestive tone of her campaign jingle. This came about due to Uson’s jingle and spiels that mention in part, “Ang cookie ni Mocha, ang sarap sarap” and “ang cookie ni Mocha para sa pagbabago.”

The jingle references a cookie business Uson put up more than a decade ago, the profits from which eventually covered the medical bills of her baker who had been stricken with cancer. However, with cookie rhyming with the Filipino term for the female genitalia, and given Uson’s sexy image as an entertainer, it was easy to conjure a sexually-suggestive message from the jingle.

With this, Comelec noted that “puns and double meanings may be used as literary devices in campaigns, but we hope that these are not used… to skirt the line between accepted speech and obscenity.” The letter also reminded Uson of the importance of “serious discussions… about policy, governance, and the future of communities” that she as a candidate needs to have; something that “sexually suggestive elements” in her campaign could muddle.

Gabriela also criticized Uson, accusing her of perpetuating the “pattern of misogyny and objectification of women.” Gabriela leaders stressed the need for candidates to give women, children, and members of the LGBTQAI+ community the proper attention they need, and not to “use women’s bodies to gain attention.”

Faced with the negative feedback, Uson took a path different from the male candidates previously issued show cause orders (SCO) by Comelec. In a letter to the poll body, she recognized “the importance of maintaining a respectful, inclusive, and age-appropriate tone in all campaign communications.” She also stated that she had ordered her team to immediately stop using the jingle and related materials in her campaign and that a review of her campaign materials was being done in order to align such with “the standards of decency and appropriateness expected in public discourse and electoral engagement.”

NOTHING NEW, NOT ISOLATED INCIDENTS

The use of sexist and misogynistic statements or attacks on candidates is not a new phenomenon in Philippine politics. Arguably one of the most controversial cases of election related sexism happened in 1986, with then-presidential candidate Cory Aquino being described as “just a woman” whose place was in the bedroom and not in the corridors of governmental power. Originating from her political rivals, this description of Aquino soon echoed throughout the country, used just as often as the criticism that she had no political experience.

Aquino had a simple yet effective answer: “May the better woman win in this election.” The 2022 elections saw then-Vice President Leni Robredo, the lone female candidate for the country’s top post, having to deal with patriarchal norms of leadership. Was she strong enough to be president? Did she have the assertiveness, decisiveness, and competitiveness that the male candidates have? To these, Robredo—just like Aquino—had a simple yet powerful answer: “The best man for the job is a woman.” The gender-based criticism of Robredo had to be borne by her supporters. They had to stress that voters need to look at her track record and leadership capabilities rather than what she purportedly could not do because she is a woman. Female Kakampinks themselves had to endure sexist and misogynistic remarks especially in the bailiwicks of certain presidential candidates.

 Aside from inter-group incidents, intra-group sexism, misogyny, and related act such as homophobia and improper behavior have hounded some groups across the country. A former key cog in a successful volunteer group in the northern part of the country says that there were instances of sexism and even sexual abuse committed by “younger volunteers” toward their fellow volunteers during the 2022 campaign. The inaction of the group’s leadership regarding the matter, the source said, was among the reasons she left the group. Pressed for comment, a leader of the group vehemently denied the allegations. “No one came to me to complain about any [sexism and] sexual abuse issues within the group. Otherwise, we would have acted on it.”

That allegations of sexism could be used to justify an unceremonious exit from a group, and weaponize the matter to cast doubt on such group, shows just how big an issue sexism could become.

A CULTURE OF MISOGYNY That two of the country’s seven presidents since 1986 are female is often mentioned as proof of considerable success in closing the gender gap. The truth, however, is that males still lord it over females when it comes to politics. And when political leaders normalize sexist and misogynistic language and behavior, the people become quite desensitized to such. Recent surveys show that there is indeed a prevailing culture of misogyny in the Philippines. In fact, the figures presented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the latest World Values Survey (WVS) are nothing but alarming. According to the UNDP’s Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI), nine out of ten (99.50 percent) Filipinos hold at least one form of bias against women. Broken down by dimension, 77.81 percent of Filipinos have economic bias against women, 75.50 have political bias against women, while 43. 61 percent have educational bias against women.

 This places the Philippines in tenth place out of 91 countries covered by the GSNI, just .42 percentage points better than Tajikistan, which topped the index. The top ten tag, however, is nothing to be proud of: the higher the GSNI value, the more biased are the citizens of a country. For comparison, the index’s lowest three—the United Kingdom, Sweden, and New Zealand—all have sub-30 percent index scores. Drawn from data covering the period 2005-2022, the GSNI also reveals that in general, biases against women hold across regions, cultures, as well as income and development levels. Meanwhile, the WVS Round 7, covering the years 2017 2022, shows that more than half of Filipinos agree/strongly agree that men make better political leaders than women do. Meanwhile, four out of ten Filipinos agree/strongly agree that men make better business executives than women do.

The above, coupled with the seemingly permissive attitude that some Filipinos have taken toward public officials’ misogynistic, sexist, and homophobic statements in the past few years, seem to have emboldened politicians to include remarks of the same nature in their campaign speeches and spiels.

NOT JUST NEGATIVE REACTIONS

The way those who were involved in incidents of alleged sexism and misogyny reacted before and after they were given SCOs is worth noting. Sia and Unabia reacted in a similar negative manner, f irst blaming the video uploader and then putting some of the blame on their political opponents. Uson, on the other hand, became a bright spot in the sexism, misogyny, and improper language issue. By owning up to her mistake, agreeing with the Comelec on the need for respectful and age-appropriate language, and informing the body of her planned course of action, she showed some traits of a good public servant. These include welcoming feedback, acting on a concern, and coming up with a clear plan to prevent an issue from happening again.

The reactions from various individuals and groups is also quite encouraging. Candidates, lawmakers and other government officials, as well as members of cause-oriented groups were one in condemning sexism and misogyny and calling on all candidates to do better. For its part, the PCW commended the Comelec for its swift action on Sia, noting that offensive remarks against solo mothers have “no place in public discourse, particularly during election periods.” The commission also acknowledged the public’s watchfulness and active involvement in exposing and reporting cases of sexism, misogyny, and other acts violative of campaign rules. Such “collective vigilance,” the PCW said, “signals a significant shift toward fostering a culture of respect and equality, where harmful gender stereotypes and discrimination are actively challenged.” Some groups, however, did not stop at calling out those involved in sexism and misogyny. For instance, Solo Parents Party-list urged the Comelec to disqualify Sia for his “offensive and harmful” statements. The partylist group’s spokesperson stressed that “statements that demean solo parents and perpetuate misogyny have no place in Philippine politics.” Meanwhile, the disqualification case filed by Comelec’s Task Force on Safeguarding Against Fear and Exclusion in Elections against Unabia was received positively by a number of groups. Gabriela also welcomed the case, describing it as a “crucial step in holding candidates and officials accountable for perpetuating sexism and misogyny.”

DO WE NEED STRICTER RULES AND LAWS?

In February 2025, Comelec issued Resolution 11116 or the Anti-Discrimination and Fair Campaigning Guidelines for the 2025 Elections. The resolution, among others, directs candidates to refrain from making derogatory statements against women, indigenous peoples, persons with disability, people living with HIV/AIDS, and members of other marginalized sectors of society. The resolution also mandates candidates to uphold equality and respect for all individuals. Following the much-talked about cases of sexism and misogyny, Comelec issued Resolution No. 11127 in early April to supplement Resolution No. 11116. The resolution declares all election-related events and venues as safe spaces. It also prohibits the use of foul language in the campaign. The Comelec’s swift action on sexism, misogyny, as well as discrimination and related actions during the campaign has sent a clear signal that the poll body is serious on making election-related events as safe spaces. Lessons learned from the just-concluded campaign and elections are sure to lead to more relevant rules in future poll activities. That there are also legislative proposals to deal with similar or related incidents is a positive indication that sexism and misogyny in the context of elections and public service could soon be dealt with more strongly. Gabriela, for instance, has filed a bill seeking to make the use of degrading and discriminatory statements against women as a ground for disqualification of candidates. Meanwhile, a bill filed last year seeks to impose stricter penalties for public officials involved in misogynistic and homophobic behavior. In the end, the public’s heightened awareness about the nature and ill effects of sexism and misogyny will be a game-changer. Coupled with better implementation of stricter rules, this could help lead to elections where track record and platforms, rather than sexist jokes and misogynistic behavior, take center stage.