Miss Earth Philippines 2025 Joy Barcoma defended herself against accusations of inconsistency after a netizen questioned her recent support for Senator Tito Sotto regarding the recent Senate controversy.
The issue stemmed from Barcoma’s social media post supporting Sotto’s handling of a tense Senate session on May 26, when members of the minority bloc walked out of the plenary amid disagreements with the majority over proposed amendments to Senate rules.
In a Facebook post on May 30, netizen Arby Sales recalled Barcoma’s criticism of Sotto in 2017, when she reportedly referred to him as a “misogynistic enabler” over his controversial remarks about women.
“It’s hilarious how she went from aggressively bashing Senator Sotto calling him ‘Misogynistic enabler’ to acting like his personal PR manager the second it became convenient, kasi part din sya ng minority along with her idols,” Sales wrote.
Barcoma, however, dismissed the criticism and argued that acknowledging a politician’s positive actions does not erase past criticisms.
“You think this is an insult? It just shows how consistent I am and that I don’t idolize politicians. I call them out when needed, I acknowledge them when they deserve it.”
She further explained that recognizing both a person’s shortcomings and strengths is not contradictory.
“Misogyny deserves criticism. Parliamentary competence can still be acknowledged. Parehong hindi mutually exclusive.”
According to Barcoma, true consistency does not require blindly condemning or praising a public official in every situation.
The beauty queen’s remarks came days after she shared a post by lawyer Carlo Ybanez discussing what he described as Sotto’s “veteran move” during the May 26 Senate proceedings.
Ybanez argued that Sotto’s decision to remain briefly in the session before leaving allowed him to formally call attention to the lack of quorum, preventing the majority bloc from immediately proceeding with efforts to amend Senate rules that could allow senators to attend and vote remotely through teleconferencing.
In her caption, Barcoma recalled learning about Sotto’s strict adherence to Senate rules and procedures during a Senate tour.
“I once had a Senate Tour and it was mentioned to us na si Senator Sotto ay isa sa mga pinaka-strikto pagdating sa Senate Decorum & Parliamentary Procedures.”
She cited an incident during Sotto’s tenure as Senate president involving Senator Loren Legarda.
“In fact, under his Senate Presidency, Senator Legarda cried because the Senate adjourned for lack of quorum before she could even read her sponsorship speech about the Dengvaxia issue.”
Barcoma also noted that Sotto was known for rarely missing sessions and consistently arriving on time.
“Never din daw ito umabsent at laging on-time.”
While acknowledging that she did not support Sotto in the past, Barcoma said her recent comments were based on his conduct regarding parliamentary procedures rather than an endorsement of his entire political record.
“I might’ve not supported him before because of his background before becoming a Senator but it’s nice to know we have few lesser evils within the halls of the institution.”
She concluded her post with a call for greater public awareness.
“Sana mamulat na ang Pilipinas.”
