“Aiming to entertain the audience in a campaign rally is one thing, but to use women for provocative numbers and for degrading comedic stunts is another.”

This is what the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) said in light of now viral videos showing women being used as a form of entertainment during campaign sorties.

“One shows a woman in scanty clothes dancing on stage in a sensual production number. The other shows a candidate telling a woman they will get married on stage, an act which prodded the local official present to encourage the former to “kiss the bride,” said PCW in a press statement on Friday, April 29.

These acts, according to the women’s group, evidently “reflect the misogyny and sexism” in the country. Meanwhile, PCW reiterated that women should be treated with dignity and respect and not as “mere sex symbols” or ways to attract audience.

“Granted that the women consented the acts, this does not erase the fact that these manifest how women are being considered as second-class citizens, thus, subjecting them to submission and control, and inferior beings they can easily touch, look at with lustful gaze, and poke fun at,” reiterated the women’s group.

Instead of using women as a form of entertainment, candidates were urged to provide women the “much-needed” opportunity to share their platform targeted to promote gender equality and empowerment.

Now that there are only 10 days remaining before the national and local elections, PCW also urged all candidates to use the remaining campaign days to be “respectful and gender-sensitive.”