Cuomo and the Iloilo solon who impregnated his cousin

By Alex P. Vidal

“Nope, no sex scandals yet. But I am open to offers!” —John Cusack

HE sexually harassed 11 women, according to a New York State Attorney General’s report, and thus Governor Andrew Cuomo’s goose is cooked.

If he were a Filipino politician, there would have been no demand for Italian-American Cuomo to step down even if all the lurid details of his alleged sexual peccadillos have been shockingly unleashed in public by no less than his former aide, the intrepid Attorney General Leticia James.

Filipinos aren’t allergic of macho leaders or elected officials who are openly womanizers as long as they are “quality” public servants.

If they can place a madman into the highest office, the Filipino voters can also make any playboy politician president.

Former Philippine President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, accused of cavorting with a married flight stewardess and maintaining illicit affairs with multiple women, and the former Iloilo congressman who impregnated his socialite cousin did worse.

But they weren’t removed from office.

Some of them were even “rewarded” with reelection as if they didn’t put a stain in their stint as “honorable” public officials.

Erap succumbed in the farcical EDSA II “revolt” for corruption, not for siring illegitimate children with different women, showbiz and non-showbiz.

 

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The Iloilo solon who junked his wife (some nosy society columnists claimed it was the wife who dumped him) for being allegedly afflicted with hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), was even reelected.

HSDD, the wife’s “sin”, is a type of mental and physical sexual dysfunction in which women lack motivation or lose desire to have sex for an extended period of time, causing significant levels of personal distress— an integral part of an HSDD diagnosis, doctors said.

Demure and highly educated, the wife continued to support the philandering husband’s political career, which nosedived eventually.

The cousin, who later died of breast cancer, didn’t even complain.

She and the Iloilo solon had been having a tryst even before he was elected. Let’s reserve this gripping episode for the gossip columnists.

Unlike what happened to Cuomo, the Iloilo solon’s political supporters didn’t abandon him and the solon’s political opponents didn’t even raise the “scandal” during the campaign.

Erap, the Iloilo solon, and a host of other sexually hyperactive Filipino politicians don’t scare the electorate, at least in the Philippines.

Cuomo had the misfortune of “committing” the sexual transgressions in the culture of American politics known for its colossal overreactions to sexual misconduct in public office (Bill Clinton was nearly canned for his misadventure with Monica Lewinsky, etcetera).

 

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Cuomo, once touted to be future US president, is in a real shit, to say the least.

Calls for his resignation were at fever-pitch as of this writing.

Even President Joseph Biden and all the state Democratic Party behemoths have publicly called for him to step down.

The only one who seems to be unaware of the desperate state of affairs is Cuomo, who disputed the allegations against him and cried political harassment.

Aides close to Cuomo reportedly claimed he was pushing for a press conference to refute Attorney General James’s report in further detail, though it’s unclear if and when that plan will come to fruition as they try to talk him down.

Cuomo’s initial response August 3 was a 14-minute, pre-taped video in which he said he and his family have experienced a hard and painful past few months, but he’d like to share his side of the story.

The governor insisted his words and actions were misinterpreted by the attorney general, the investigators and the women who reported them.

Cuomo said he talked with Charlotte Bennett, a sexual assault survivor, about her sex life because he was so moved by her personal story.

He insisted the hugs and kisses reported by former aides were largely representative of how he greets people as an Italian American politician, as photos of him publicly embracing other politicians and constituents flashed on the screen.

 

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)