Pasay mayoral bet faces DQ case for quip about Indians
A task force of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has filed a disqualification case against a mayoral candidate in Pasay City after she spoke of banning Indian medical students from a local hospital for “smelling like onions.”
The Comelec’s Task Force Safe (Safeguarding Against Fear and Exclusion in Elections) filed on Friday a petition for disqualification against Pasay councilor and mayoral candidate Editha Manguerra of Aksyon Demokratiko.
The task force also asked the poll body to suspend Manguerra’s proclamation in the event she wins, “as it is patently clear that the evidence for her disqualification is strong.”
In its 19-page petition, the task force headed by Comelec Director Sonia Bea Wee-Lozada accused Manguerra of committing “incitement to discrimination” during a campaign rally on April 13.
Manguerra allegedly referred to the Indian interns at the Pasay City General Hospital (PCGH) as “bumbay” and “smelling like onions,” saying they should be kept out of hospital premises.
‘Offhand comments’
The task force on April 15 issued a show-cause order on the candidate, who then submitted her reply on April 21.
Manguerra, 66, explained that her remarks were just “offhand comments” in response to concerns raised by constituents regarding lack of cultural familiarity and clear communication at the PCGH.
She noted that the Indian interns spoke in English but that some indigent patients barely understood them, especially the elderly or the “undereducated.”
She said her remarks were just a reflection of “grassroots expressions” that had no reference to race, nationality or immigration status, and therefore not intended to be derogatory or racist.
She maintained that “a singular colloquialism in a spontaneous public address unaccompanied by incitement, threats, or exclusionary intent cannot be reasonably classified as racial vilification or grounds for disqualification.”
But the task force disagreed, saying her remarks promoted racial hostility and made as “an appeal to voters to harbor racial biases, signaling that their grievances, even though rooted in discrimination, will be addressed if they support her candidacy.”
“More egregiously, she called to exclude a group based on national or racial origin from a public hospital. She committed an incitement to discrimination as an effort to influence the electoral behavior of constituents by vilifying Indian health workers,” the task force said.
‘Marginalization’
The task force said her words served as a “reinforcement of harmful societal norms and the infliction of reputation and social harm.”
“Thus, even if respondent insists that her remarks were harmless, their actual impact was to reinforce discriminatory views and exclude persons of Indian descent from full political and social recognition, causing injury through marginalization,” it added.
The task force said Manguerra was liable for violating Section 261 (e) of the Omnibus Election Code and Section 13 of the Fair Election Act, in relation to Comelec Resolution Nos. 11116 and 11127, which prescribe guidelines on the election campaign against discrimination and promoting fair campaigning.
