Pasig City Congressional candidate Christian “Ian” Sia has apologized after a joke about single mothers went viral. The statement he made during a campaign rally immediately sparked controversy. Sia said the purpose of his joke was to get people’s attention and not to insult.
In a viral video, Sia said, "Once a year, single parent women who are still menstruating – Mom, obviously, still menstruating – and are sad, once a year, you can have sex with me." This statement caused a lot of reactions from people, so Sia explained that the joke was not meant to be offensive but to make people laugh and get the audience's attention.
After the criticism, Sia explained that people should not be angry with her but with the person who uploaded the video. According to Sia, the video only showed the joke she told, but not the reaction of the people who laughed at the joke. For her, the purpose of the joke was to make her speech more interesting and grab people's attention, especially at times when the audience was bored.
Sia admitted that there may have been people who were offended by her words and apologized sincerely. She said, “But I was offended by what I said, I sincerely apologize.” This was her showing responsibility and showing concern for those who were affected by her joke.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) issued a statement on the incident and stressed that such statements should not be ignored. They urged candidates to improve the quality of their campaigns and said they will impose action regarding the incident.
