Another lewd show in hustings caught on video

Video grab from a 3-minute clip showing part of the March 28 proclamation rally of Eugenio Ynion Jr., the village chief of San Antonio and a candidate for mayor under the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

SAN PEDRO CITY—For the second time during this election season, a lewd performance by sexy dancers before candidates has been caught on video, reviving the issue of using women as entertainment in political events.

The Inquirer recently got hold of a copy of the three-minute video clip, showing part of the March 28 proclamation rally of Eugenio Ynion Jr., the village chief of San Antonio and a candidate for mayor of this first-class city in Laguna province at the southern corridor of Metro Manila.

“This was the second time we’ve heard of it,” said Leona Entena of the women’s group Gabriela-Southern Tagalog. “We condemn the use of ‘4Gs’—guns, gold, goons and now, girls—in any way by any politician,” she said.

In October last year, a similar show was videotaped by the Inquirer during the birthday celebration of Laguna Rep. Benjamin Agarao Jr. and after the oath-taking of Liberal Party candidates, also held in Laguna. The video went viral online.

The recent footage showed a man, wearing a shirt printed with “#akoatsiynion,” seated onstage, as five female dancers, wearing skimpy denim shorts and cropped tops under white hoodies, surrounded him.

The video, given by a source who did not want to be identified for security reasons, did not have an audio, but clearly showed the women dancing and hunching over. At one point, one of the women lifted the man’s shirt and pinched his nipples.

The woman then blindfolded the man and signaled to a gay man to come on stage and dance, pretending to be one of the female dancers.

This happened as Ynion, a candidate of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, and members of his slate were seated onstage. Also seen in the video was former Laguna Gov. Jeorge “ER” Ejercito, who is seeking reelection under the United Nationalist Alliance. Ejercito was invited as a guest at the proclamation rally.

Sought for comment, Ynion, in a telephone interview, said the performance was something “we were not consulted about.”

“My wife and I vehemently abhor [the performance]. It was something we, too, did not like,” he said.

He said he immediately gave the person in charge of the program a dressing down for squeezing in the dance group into the proclamation rally. Ejercito, he said, was also unhappy about it.

Ynion believed the release of the video clip was meant to discredit him.

“It was not an evidence of corruption nor of immorality,” he said. Sexy performances, he added, were something “out of my character.”

“I don’t even go to nightclubs,” he said.

Entena said Ynion’s involvement surprised her as her group had been invited by the candidate and his wife, Carissa, also in March, to conduct a seminar on violence against women.

To view the video clip, go to https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/782120/in-laguna-another-lewd-show-at-political-event