Binay: Light skin not a measure of health, good looks

Senate PRIB handout

MANILA — Skin color has nothing to do with health or beauty, Sen. Nancy Binay said Saturday amid online backlash to Sen. Robin Padilla’s wife Mariel posting a photo of her receiving a Glutathione IV drip at her husband’s office.

The post, since deleted, earned Mariel Padilla criticism online for using a treatment that has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for skin whitening and for having been done on government property.

Sen. Padilla has laughed off the criticism, saying his wife only meant to “promote good looks and good health” and had no intention of disrespecting the Senate.

“Sa akin din, yung pagwa-whitening, hindi rin yan batayan ng good looks ‘di ba,” Binay, chair of the Senate ethics and privileges committee, said on TeleRadyo Serbisyo.

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“We should always be comfortable doon sa skin na binigay sa atin, ‘di ba,” she also said.

Binay has been the subject of memes and jokes because of the color of her skin but has since used these jokes as talking points, in her own political ads, and in a book on cyberbullying.

“We should always be comfortable with our skin because doon lang talaga magkakaroon ka ng confidence, ‘di ba. ‘Yung acceptance of ano ka,” she also said.

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NO FDA APPROVAL

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa on his X account on Friday reposted without comment an FDA advisory warning against the use of Glutathione as a skin lightening agent.

The FDA says the treatment has not been proven to be safe or effective, and could have side effects on the liver, kidneys and nervous system.

“I think sa akin doon, I think, medyo I’m not comfortable with ‘yung phrase na sinabi niya na mahilig lang mag-promote ng ‘good looks and good health’,” Binay said Saturday,

“Good health but apparently it’s not ‘di ba… It is not good health kasi wala siyang FDA approval.”

Skin whitening products and procedures are popular in the Philippines, where lighter skin and other Western features are seen as a sign of high status.