Campaign fun

What is it with our new breed of politicians? Politesse seems to have been left out of their crash course on civic discourse.

Running for congressman in Pasig, lawyer Christian Sia thought it was funny to quip that once a year, menstruating solo moms could sign up, and he would willingly sleep with them. As a favor. As his service to humanity. We woke up to the sounds of women activists barfing.

Naturally, candidate Sia is accused as being misogynist, but I actually thought it was ageist as well. Why the emphasis on the presence of menstruation? Did he not think that menopausal women have needs too? If he was really concerned about the loneliness of women in his district, he should have made his stud services available to all women. Menstruating or not. Or men.

That campaign joke might have been crass enough, and costly enough to merit sudden nationwide opprobrium, except candidate Sia wasn’t done. In a subsequent campaign sortie, he defended himself by asking his staffer, purportedly the wife of his good friend, to come up on stage with him.

In response to the online ribbing he was receiving about his sexual drive (to be blunt --that he must have the makings of a sex maniac), Sia told his listeners to judge him based on the companions he traveled with. Enter Jaja, his staffer, whom he promptly paraded around on stage, pointing to her physical appearance as, well, not svelte. His point? Would he have campaign staffers who weren’t sexy if he were a sex maniac? “Duh?”

I wonder whether Jaja is still in his employ. Would she have been able to survive the national attention to her physique? Did she give in to societal pressures on women’s appearances, and go on a crash diet? Or did she defy judgment, and binge on unhealthy junk food? And what about her husband, Sia’s supposed good friend? Are they still besties?

What kind of upbringing bred this political animal? He is supposedly a graduate of the best schools in Manila (Ateneo Law school and La Salle for college), so he received the most expensive Catholic education possible. But that humor! The attempt to ingratiate himself with voters by appealing to their baser instincts! Inexplicable.

The Commission on Election issued two show-cause orders against candidate Sia, and is now debating whether he should be disqualified from running. It is notable that his political opponent, incumbent Roman Romulo, doesn’t seem to be pouring fuel over the fire, apparently not deigning to dignify his opponent. Such class, compared to the challenger.

Where must the challenger have learned his behavior from, then?

This week, Vice President Sara Duterte made fun of the physical appearance of Manila Congressman Ronald Valeriano. In yet another attempt at campaign levity, she asked the audience why they would want to vote for a congressman with such a thick neck, his voice was already squeaky.

Let’s withdraw the question, shall we?

Were we not taught that refinement is the goal to be achieved, that debate and argumentation have rules? And that he or she who resorts to ad hominem attacks loses the debate? Well, perhaps not in Philippine politics.

We saw this in Jejomar Binay’s campaign when he was insulted as “nognog”. (Yes, it’s the “n” word.) This carried over to his daughter’s senatorial campaign, where she was likewise dubbed, or daubed, as very, very dark. However, Nancy Binay took the derogatory comments in stride, and shaped the narrative to her benefit by taking on a pro-poor tack.

And let’s not forget the original Duterte, who joked about raping a white missionary, kissing the lips of IMF chief Lagarde, and insulting the International Criminal Court investigators, among many other examples. He paved the way for unmuzzled discourse on stage --and as predicted, set a very bad example.

We should expect more below-the-belt attacks. With political fortunes (and more) at stake, desperation is sure to drive the direction of the adventurers. One only wishes the candidates were more cerebral about their insults. That would be more fun.

Irony, double entendres, satire --oh, wherefore art thou.