Tito P, one of the hosts of the podcast Machong Chismisan, has apologized for making insensitive remarks about Josh Aquino, the son of television host and actress Kris Aquino.
In a lengthy Facebook post on Wednesday, Tito P acknowledged that his comments were disparaging toward Josh and hurt people who relate to his condition as a person on the autism spectrum, as well as those with loved ones who are also on the spectrum.
“Regrettably, I made remarks that were disparaging toward Josh Aquino and hurt many people who relate to his condition as a person on the autism spectrum, as well as those who have loved ones like him,” he said.
The remarks were made in an episode titled “Ang Pagbabalik ni Kris Aquino,” published on October 5. During the episode, Tito P called Josh “walang kwenta” and compared him with his younger brother, Bimby. The episode has since been deleted.
Tito P said he could relate to Josh as someone diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but stressed that his condition did not excuse his “hurtful words or the laughter that followed.“
“I hope people will consider that I was not coming from a place of malice or hurtful intent,” he said.
“As someone with ADHD, impulse control can make filtering thoughts difficult. An edgy joke might pop into my head, and before my executive functioning can evaluate the social risk, it has already been said aloud. I share this not to excuse my behavior, but to provide context,” he added.
Tito P also acknowledged that the public backlash made him realize the impact of his remarks.
“It took the public backlash for me to realize where the joke was coming from. But that is how people learn,” he said.
He thanked Machong Chismisan and Makoy for removing the episode once the harm caused by the comments became apparent. He also apologized to his co-hosts, The Pod Network and others who were subjected to unwanted publicity because of the controversy.
Tito P said he would reach out to those “directly affected“ by his remarks to offer personal apologies.
“And I will continue to hear helpful and professional advice as to how to make myself more accountable and more respectful in the future,” he vowed.
Meanwhile, he appealed to the public not to use excerpts from the deleted episode to malign or hurt others or provoke negative reactions among people who might not have heard the remarks had the clip not gone viral.
On Thursday morning, The Pod Network announced that it had terminated its contract with the Machong Chismisan podcast following the controversy.
