THE SUMMER month has barely started, and we have already witnessed eruptions of various sorts, not counting the volcanic ones. Look at the candidates for the 2025 elections.
Ian Sia is running for congressman in the lone district of Pasig under Team Kaya This. He is an incumbent councilor. At a caucus held on April 2, Sia told his audience: “[E]to ho ang ambag ko sa mga solo parent sa Pasig. Minsan sa isang taon, ang mga solo parent na babae na rineregla pa — ‘Nay, malinaw na rineregla pa — at nalulungkot, minsan sa isang taon pwedeng sumiping ho sa akin. ‘Yung interesado, magpalista po rito sa mesa sa gilid.”
Peter Unabia is the governor of Misamis Oriental, running for reelection under the Paglaum and Padayon Pilipino Party. At an April 3 rally, he talked about their nursing student scholarship program: Our nursing scholarship is only for women, not for men. And the women must be beautiful. Ugly women cannot qualify. If a male patient is already weak and he has to deal with an ugly nurse, how will that turn out? His illness will only worsen.
Ruwel Peter Gonzaga, representative of the Second District of Davao de Oro, is aspiring to become governor under Team Byaheng Kalinaw. He spoke about his wife, the incumbent governor, in this manner: “Dotdot, susuyuin kita. Bumukaka ka na.” He told a candidate and another person to kiss in front of a crowd. He asked an audience if women were better than men when it comes to sex.
Then, there’s Heidi Mendoza. A former Commissioner of the Commission on Audit and Undersecretary General for the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services, she has testified in hearings concerning public funds. She is running for senator with the advocacy, “Labanan ang katiwalian.” At a forum last week, she along with other senatorial candidates were asked to answer “yes” or “no” to the question of same-sex marriage. Luke Espiritu raised a “yes” placard, Sonny Matula raised a “maybe” placard, and Heidi Mendoza raised a “no” placard.
The deplorable campaign track of local candidates Sia, Unabia, and Gonzaga were clear, and certainly not new. When confronted with show cause orders and backlash on social media, their replies were also expected. Sia said he only wanted to catch the audience’s attention. He offered an apology, only to be followed with a press release attacking his opponents. Unabia explained that he wanted his audience to stay awake during the campaign sortie, and he criticized his detractors for being overly sensitive. Gonzaga accused his critics of misrepresenting his actions.
As for Heidi Mendoza, after a video of the forum surfaced on April 8 – around the time when a survey revealed that the top senatorial candidates included the Tulfo brothers, Bong Revilla, Lito Lapid, Tito Sotto, Bong Go, and Bato dela Rosa – LGBTQ+ advocates turned to social media announcing withdrawal of their support for Mendoza. All hell broke loose. It was a debate between fighting for the rights of a segment of the population and fighting for good governance. It was a battle of us versus them: on the one hand, the LGBTQ+ versus the conservative, and on the other, the progressive — which includes LGBTQ+ and Catholics — versus the corrupt. Heidi Mendoza attempted to apologize. In an interview with Christian Esguerra, she appeared to have taken the controversy seriously, as any candidate should, showing remorse and resolution. She said:
“Meron din akong pagkakamali. Nasanay ako na ako yung laging nag-e-exact ng accountability.
“Itong grupo na ito na matagal nang hindi napapakinggan, ganun din ka-passionate na nakita nila ang laban ko. And yet hindi ko nagawang maging bukas.
“Nung nararamdaman ko yung pag-withdraw, nasasaktan ako.
“Pero hindi ko siya masabing cancel culture. Sa tingin ko, ito ay isang paghingi ng tulong. Nakilala nila ako, eto passionate sa paglaban, baka makatulong sa ating laban. ‘Yun ang paraan nila.
“Ako pa ang nag-cause ng pagkahati-hati. Nag-aaway ang followers ko at ang ibang LGBT. Nadi-divide ang LGBT community.”
Advertising professionals always say that election campaigns are plain marketing. The case of Heidi Mendoza proves yet again that one can be a champion of good governance — and good job with that — but how foolish it would be to expect that virtue to translate to total surrender, that uncompromising support from people who may be more demanding than the crowd who were enjoying the “jokes” of Sia, Unabia, and Gonzaga. Sometimes the harder you fight against traditional politics, the more resistant you are to compromises – like the discipline of a campaign that will give you that win — and therefore you do not say the “yes” that is expected of you because you are not ready to say “yes,” and thus the harder you fall.
I confess I am confused. There is not much energy in me right now to feel outrage at the groups who have come together, not just for this election but in the last one, out of a common desire for accountability in government but who suddenly have been divided by this recent incident. I do not have the strength, not at this moment, to condemn either side even those who say that no one should be persuaded to still vote for Heidi.
Just the same, I carry the hope that we do not find ourselves shattered at the end of it all, not again./PN
