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

MANILA (UPDATED) — Pasig congressional candidate Christian "Ian" Sia on Tuesday formally defended before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) his sexually-charged remarks on solo mothers that led to the issuance of a show cause order against him.

Pasig candidate apologizes for single mom joke, blames uploader of viral video

Sia went viral last week after a video of his campaign activity surfaced where he was heard saying: “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."

This prompted the Solo Parents party-list to file an election offense complaint against Sia, citing alleged violation of RA 9006 or the Fair Elections Act over his joke.

Comelec issues show cause order vs. Pasig bet Ian Sia over sex joke about single moms

In his letter to Comelec dated April 8, 2025, Sia said his controversial "joke" was "abridged" and "was maliciously spun to mislead people on social media."

While Sia admitted that his language and tone "were indeed conversational," his statements were not meant to "discriminate, exclude, restrict, demean or harass female solo parents."

SC urged to sanction Pasig candidate Sia over 'appalling' remark on solo moms

"My statements were not uttered to restrict or deprive female solo parents of their fundamental human rights and freedoms," he said.

Sia said his statements "fall within my freedom of speech."

Bill seeks inclusion of 'misogynistic remarks' as grounds for poll disqualification

"For the foregoing reasons, I humbly pray that the Honorable Commission consider my answer as sufficient compliance with its Show Cause Order dated 04 April 2025," he said. 

Comelec: Pasig bet Ian Sia to face another show cause order

The Pasig candidate running under the "Team Kaya This" slate earlier apologized for his remark and promised to "do better" following the backlash.

Sia faces a second show cause order before Comelec over another joke where he allegedly body shamed his former female employee during a campaign event.

Following Sia and other candidates' "misogynistic" remarks, the Comelec on Tuesday declared all election campaign areas, including online, as a "safe space."

At least one lawmaker has called on the Comelec to disqualify a candidate who are proven guilty of uttering misogynistic remarks.

"It's been going on nga nang matagal ng panahon, tapos wala talagang nasa-sanction," said Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas. "Wala talagang nagagawa, wala talaga tayong na nagiging accountable doon sa kanilang mga ginawa."

"Kaya gusto talaga natin masampulan. Gusto natin magkaroon talaga ng action. Ngayon, ang meron pa lang, puro mga show cause order pa lang yan," she added.

Brosas on Tuesday led the filing of House Bill No. 11498 or the "Bawal Bastos sa Eleksyon Bill" seeking to include sexist and discriminatory comments as grounds for disqualifying candidates. 

She also said that Sia, who is a lawyer, should be sanctioned by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) for his actions. -- with a report from Paige Javier, ABS-CBN News

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