Taguiwalo accepts Tito Sotto’s apology over ‘na-ano’ remark

Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo has refused to speak more about  Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III's controversial remarks on her status as a single parent, saying the lawmaker has already apologized.

DSWD Sec. Taguiwalo welcomes 41 repatriates from Riyadh Saudi Arabia, refuses to speak more of Sotto incident saying senator has apologized. pic.twitter.com/u4hoe29iSG

— Raffy Tima (@raffytima) May 4, 2017

GMA News reporter Raffy Tima tweeted that Taguiwalo made the remark while welcoming 41 repatriated OFWs from Riyadh at Terminal 3 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Taguiwalo said she had accepted Sotto's apology.

"He apologized and I accepted his apology. That does not mean that I tolerate misogyny or anti-women comments or attacks vs solo parents," Taguiwalo said.

Taguiwalo earlier gave a brief rebuff to Sotto's joke regarding her solo parenthood during her confirmation hearing at the CA Committee on Labor, Employment and Social Welfare on Wednesday.

"Senator Sotto, I teach women's studies in UP so we respect all kinds of families, and that includes solo parents. Thank you," Taguiwalo said.

Sotto's remark—"In the street language, when you have children and you are single, ang tawag lang ay na-ano lang"—earned intense criticism from various figures and even one of Taguiwalo's daughters before he apologized.

The senator, in his apology, said his critics did not "understand the joke", that the "common expression" in form of a joke was said "in the street language", and suggested that some of his critics are "perhaps overly sensitive."

He added that he was "the last person in this country to disrespect a woman" as two of his daughters were also solo parents and his mother was a prominent figure in the women's rights movement. —Rie Takumi/NB, GMA News