Garin’s ‘no underwear’ tip triggers familiar foe

Janette Garin PHOTO FROM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FB PAGE

MANILA, Philippines — When a former—and controversial—health secretary who now has a platform as a lawmaker suggests that women are better off without underwear at home amid the hot weather, expect the idea to take some, well, heat.

House Deputy Majority Leader Janette Garin earlier advised women to consider going commando during these days of extreme temperatures to make themselves less susceptible to vaginal yeast infection.

“Women are prone to fungal infection due to the heat. It is not a sexually transmitted disease, but because of the normal flora in the genitalia of women. Once you sweat because of the heat, it becomes a perfect petri dish for fungi to grow,” the Iloilo representative told reporters on Tuesday.

READ: DOH to women amid ‘tag-init’: Can’t go commando? Wear cotton panties

“During the hot season—I suggest this with no malice —but when you’re at home sleeping, it’s advisable to skip wearing underwear under your pajamas or shorts. This can enhance ventilation and help prevent fungal infections,” said Garin, who served as health secretary under then President Benigno Aquino III.

‘Not hygienic’

But Garin’s tip was thumbed down by another outspoken, high-profile doctor who once served as adviser to the Department of Health (DOH)—and who had publicly clashed with Garin in the past.

In a series of posts on X on Tuesday and Wednesday, Dr. Tony Leachon scoffed at the suggestion for being “not hygienic and not decent” and “not universally accepted as [a] public health measure.”

It also signaled a “low point in our health debates,” he said, at a time when pressing concerns like the rising cases of pertussis and heatstroke required “serious answers.’’

READ: Explainer: How to beat ‘heatstroke’ during the summer season

READ: DOH: 40 child deaths due to pertussis logged so far this year

“I would rather focus on hydration and usual measures to keep the body comfortable, decent and hygienic,” Leachon added. “The cause of heatstroke is dehydration, thus this should be the centrality of focus, and not the removal of [underwear].”

History of animosity

In September last year, Leachon resigned as DOH special adviser for noncommunicable diseases, a month after he was appointed to the post by Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa.

He tendered his resignation hours after Garin, as vice chair of the House appropriations committee, questioned Leachon’s qualifications.

The animosity between Garin and Leachon made headlines back in December 2017. During a Senate inquiry on the Dengvaxia fiasco, Leachon insinuated that Garin might have fed Aquino with “bad science or wrong information” that led to the use of the controversial dengue vaccine in the national immunization program.

Still, Garin’s “no-underwear” option earned a nod from Herbosa himself.

In a radio interview on Wednesday, Herbosa acknowledged that “there is nothing wrong” with her advice to women, noting it had a “basis.”

But for women not comfortable with Garin’s suggestion but still want some measure of protection, the DOH chief said they might just opt to wear cotton underwear and maintain good hygiene.

And the same can apply to men. “It’s also important for men to wear cotton underwear and not let it dry out from sweat to avoid fungal infections in the groin area,” Herbosa explained. INQ