Pasig City congressional candidate Christian Sia. Photo from Sia's Facebook page

MANILA (2nd UPDATE) - The congressional candidate in Pasig City who went viral for a sexually-charged joke about single mothers apologized Friday to those offended by his remark, saying it was only meant to catch the attention of the audience.  

In a video obtained by ABS-CBN's Katrina Domingo on Thursday, Christian “Ian” Sia of Team Kaya This was seen talking at what appeared to be a campaign rally when he made the remark.

“Minsan sa isang taon, ang mga solo parent na babae na nireregla pa – Nay, malinaw, nireregla pa – at nalulungkot, minsan sa isang taon, puwedeng sumiping ho sa akin,” Sia said in the viral video.

(Some time of the year, to those single mothers still menstruating—no, not you old lady— when you're sad, you can have sex with me.)

Comelec to take action over candidate’s 'siping' joke

On Friday, Sia addressed the backlash and claimed that his supporters should be mad at the uploader of the video for not showing the part where the audience "laughed" at his joke. 

"Wag po kayo magalit sakin, magalit po kayo sa gumawa ng video... Ang nakita lang sa video yung sinabi, pero yung reaksyon ng tao, hindi nakita na tumawa, yun lang ang purpose ng joke," he said.  

(Don't get mad at me, get mad at the uploader of the video... They only uploaded the part where I made the joke, but not the reaction of the people who laughed at it.)

He also claimed that the "joke" was meant to "shock" the audience so he would have their attention when he discusses his platforms.

Local candidates hit the ground running as campaign officially starts

"Pag nagsasalita ako, tipikal mahaba na [dahil] nakapagsalita na lahat [sa slate] so yung mga tao naiinip, na ayaw na makinig, so ginugulat ko lang ng joke so yung atensyon napupukaw," he said.

(By the time I was already speaking, all my co-candidates have already spoken so the people no longer want to listen, so I just tell a joke to make them pay attention to me when I discuss important matters.)

Sia apologized to those who got offended by his "joke."

"Ngunit ako ay nakasakit sa aking sinabi, humihingi po ako ng taos-pusong dispensa," he said. 

(If I hurt your feelings, I apologize.)

In a separate press conference also on Friday, Sia once again apologized for his remark, admitting that he shouldn’t have joked about single mothers.

“Inaako ko po ang responsibilidad sa mga nabitawan kong salita. I’m sorry po na lumabis ang aking mga salita at mali po ang napili kong biro para magpatawa sa isang political caucus,” he said.

“Now I better understand the phrase that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Hindi po sapat na mabuti ang ating intensyon, importante din po ang epekto ng ating mga salita lalo na ang ating mga gawa,” Sia added.

According to Sia, he hopes his experience will serve as a lesson to all public figures to be careful with what they say.

“Sana po ay magsilbing aral din po sa lahat ng public figures na maituturing — whether national or local — na timbanging maigi ang ating pagsasalita,” he said.

The Commission on Elections said it would not let the incident pass and urged candidates to elevate the level of campaigning.

For more news and features on Philippine elections, visit the ABS-CBN News' Halalan 2025 page.

RELATED VIDEO: