Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
CEBU CITY — Barely a week after his controversial “na-ano” remark, Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III highlighted the role of all mothers regardless of the circumstances.
“I have a term for mothers. They must be called domestic engineers,” he told reporters on Friday. “Kasi ang pagiging ina ay napakahirap. Napakabigat na trabaho yan. Mas mabigat na trabaho yan kaysa abogado. (Being a mother is tough. That is not an easy task. That is more difficult than being a lawyer).”
Sotto was in Cebu City on Friday for the Anti-Drug Summit held at the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas’ conference room.
Although he spoke much about the government’s war on drugs, he hardly evaded queries on his “na-ano” remark during the Commission on Appointments’ (CA) confirmation hearing of Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo last May 3.
During the bicameral hearing, Sotto asked Taguiwalo about her status as a single mother.
Admitting it, she replied that she has two daughters.
Then, Sotto remarked: “In street language, when you have children and you are single, ang tawag doon ay ‘na-ano lang’.”
Although “na-ano” is a general term, it suggests that one had casual sex and just got pregnant.
But the senator to dismiss the insinuations, saying he did not mean to insult single mothers.
“There’s nothing wrong with it,” he said. “It did not come from me. I just quoted it. The bottomline is the joke comes from single moms. The term emanated from them.”
“Because in the streets, every time we go around, a woman is asked if she has a child. And if she has a child and doesn’t have a husband, she’s usually asked what happened, and then the usual answer is ‘ay na-ano lang’,” he added.
“Na-ano,” he said, could mean a lot of things.
“It could be that she just fell in love or was duped,” he said. “But the important thing is it is the way of a single mom to dispose of the question in a comic description wherein she doesn’t need to explain further anymore. It’s a way of dismissing the issue in a very light manner.”
Sotto earlier apologized to those who were offended by his remark.
But this did not stop eight women from various groups from filing an ethics complaint against the senator before the Senate Committee on Ethics, which is chaired by Sotto himself.
The complainants said Sotto “epitomizes the segment of the misogynist and macho sector of society that considers women, who are without men as less of value.”
The senator, they added, also showed his utter insensitivity and disregard to the hard work, strong will and determination of mothers, who raise children on their own. /atm