EDITORIAL — Not funny

Two candidates for the midterm election are now under fire for making recent “jokes” that were seen to degrade and objectify women.

During a sortie, Pasig City congressional candidate Christian Sia said he was “available” to certain women under certain conditions.

“Para sa mga solo parent ng Pasig, minsan sa isang taon, ang mga solo parent na babae, na nireregla pa, nay malinaw na nireregla pa, at nalulungkot, minsan sa isang taon, pwedeng sumiping ho sa akin. Yun hong interesado, magpalista na rito sa mesa sa gilid,” he said.

Meanwhile, during a campaign speech, Misamis Oriental Governor Peter Unabia said only pretty women should be nurses.

“Itong Nursing scholarship para lang ito sa mga babae. Hindi pwede ang lalaki. At dapat ‘yung mga babae, gwapa… Hindi naman pwedeng pangit, kasi kung nanghihina na ang mga lalaking pasyente kapag hinarap ng pangit na nurse, paano naman? Lalala ‘yung sakit niyan,” he was quoted as saying in a local dialect.

We understand that they didn’t mean those things literally. And that they may have said those things to get a laugh; who wants a campaign speech to be boring? But there is nothing funny about objectifying and degrading women.

Such a mentality no longer has a place today. Have we become so desensitized to sexist jokes and attitudes because the president of the previous administration was so fond of making them and acting the way he did?

Women have proven themselves capable of great things. In fact there are many things they can do better than men. Or maybe we have forgotten that two of them have become president of this country? Let’s also not forget that a woman gave us our first Olympic gold medal, while another woman gave us our first Nobel Peace Prize.

Both candidates are now facing backlash for their comments, with Sia being called by the Commission on Elections to explain his actions. Unabia may soon have to account for his --after the mess he made saying something discriminatory against Muslims dies down.

Like we said before, this campaign period is a good time to watch and learn what kind of person a candidate can be, just based on what he says or does.