It Depends on the Joke

By Alex P. Vidal 

“Journalists never make it clear when you are joking.” —David Bailey

IF I were a candidate in the May 12, 2025 Philippine elections and I accused my rival as being an “under the saya” or a henpecked, would the Commission on Elections (Comelec) disqualify me for “violation” of Anti-Discrimination and Fair Campaign rules?

I can’t imagine if the poll body would go to that extreme.

During the election campaign—at least in the Philippines, we don’t expect the protagonists to heap praises toward each other; we don’t expect them to swap love letters and red roses.

There will always be heated debates, bitter exchange of diatribes in the middle of the campaign period, and mudslinging from pillar to post.

There will always be a Mickey Mouse, a Donald Duck, and a Snoopy. No one comes out a saint or end up like Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird and Cary Grant in the Arsenic and Old Lace.

Candidates will get eggs on their faces no matter who they are and what position or title they possess.

Politicians—the ambitious and adventurous—always have putrid mouths; they don’t give a hoot if they wound the feelings of their rivals.

All they care about is to sledgehammer their opponents with unpleasant accusations and wanting to emerge immaculate from the rat race and making sure their rivals’ reputations are in tatters. They don’t even give a damn about decency and respect.

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It is completely a different story if the rivals’ word war goes beyond name-calling.

If it is meant as a joke, it depends on the quality of that joke and who promotes or professes that “joke.”

If it offends the public morals and degrades a person, it’s blatantly south of the border and must be vigorously nipped in the bud by the proper authorities.

And because of the Comelec’s vigilance and full-court-press approach against dirty campaigning, candidates are now under mounting pressure to uphold ethical campaign practices.

Aside from the poll body, other government agencies have been cracking down on foul language, misuse of personal data, exploitation of emergency alert systems and political interference in government payout programs.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia recently announced that a supplemental resolution has been adopted to broaden the existing Anti-Discrimination and Fair Campaign rules, incorporating a “safe space” provision aimed at curbing inappropriate behavior during the campaign period.

“The use of foul language is now considered an election offense,” Garcia announced recently, noting that the move was prompted by recent incidents involving candidates resorting to offensive language in public appearances.

It seems that the new provision is also seeking to prevent discriminatory remarks against women, the elderly and other vulnerable groups – acts that may not be explicitly covered under previous regulations.

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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. The skin of our faces has a certain amount of color of its own, but the main part of the color of the face–at any rate, among people with light-colored skins–is the color of the blood shining through the skin. It is the heart that drives the blood through the skin of the face.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. There is a certain amount of salt in all our food, and one of the properties of salt is to draw water from the tissues toward the kidneys where the waste liquids are filtered.

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. How hot is the sun? The temperature of the surface of the sun is estimated at about 11,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The sun’s interior may be 40,000,000 degrees. At these temperatures, molecules of matter cannot “hang together.”

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. There is a certain amount of salt in all our food, and one of the properties of salt is to draw water from the tissues toward the kidneys where the waste liquids are filtered.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)