These celebrities won’t be fooled by empty promises anymore—here’s why

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During election season, celebrities play a big role in boosting candidates’ popularity among voters. Apart from endorsing them through their social media platforms, they take part in advertisements aired on radio or television. But ever since the pandemic hit the world, many personalities have been reassessing the support they’ve shown to some of our leaders, airing out their concerns about how they’ve been handling the global health crisis. 

Among these personalities are Angelica Panganiban and Angel Locsin, both of whom have been using their influence to help address national issues. Here’s what both of them had to say with regard to the recent NBI investigation of Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto: 

 

Ironically, however, both these ladies have also previously endorsed some of the politicians who are now being criticized for how they’ve been handling the pandemic: President Rodrigo Duterte (Panganiban) and Senator Koko Pimentel (Locsin).

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Bought the slurpee cup for 25Pesos. Kahit ubos na ang slurpee ng 7/11. Makakuha lang ako ng #Duterte souvenir 😀 nawala ko siya bago umalis ng Bacolod. Pero sa d inaasahang pagkakataon, nakita ko sila @indaysaraduterte kilig na kilig ako. Nilapitan ako ng ibang staff na mag pa picture daw sila Mayor Sara 😁 tumayo ako sa upuan ko at excited na makita sila 😊 masayang masaya lang yung energy ng lahat. Inaya pa nila ko kumain kasama sila. Nahiya na lang ako. Kahit na gusto ko sila makausap at ipagmalaki na gustong gusto ko si Duterte. Para ko silang long lost friends kahapon 🙂 binabahagi ko lang ang experience ko kasama ang pamilya at supporters ni Mr.Duterte. Sa sandaling yun, lalo akong humanga sa kanya. To think na lahat ng kasama niya Ay volunteers lang. Walang bayad. At kinataba ng puso ko ang sincere na pagkamay sakin ni @indaysaraduterte at pinasalamatan ako sa pag suporta sa kanila. At sa sandaling yun… Nakakuha ako ng mug. 😂 nakakatawa man… Pero masayang masaya ko. Wala pang 24hrs, binalik na sakin yung nawala kong cup from 7/11. And this time, galing mismo kina Duterte ❤️

A post shared by Angelica Panganiban (@iamangelicap) on

Apologies have been made

The president’s late-night speeches are unproductive and unprofessional, with all his talk about killing and obeying. It’s too much to bear and many of us have taken to Twitter to express our indignation and concern. For Angelica Panganiban, she’s been really frustrated with how this is all going down. After tweeting a couple of statements including a call for unity, however, some of her followers have pointed out the fact that she endorsed Duterte  in 2016.

A fan wrote, “Nagising ka na ba sa pagkahypnotize? (Have you realized now that you’ve been blinded by his promises?)” To which she replied, “Oo. Nakakalungkot. Pero oo. Patawarin niyo ako. (Yes. It’s sad. But yes. Please forgive me.)

There was even another tweet that celebrated her “awakening,” which she apologized for taking long.

Angel Locsin was also apologetic about her support for Pimentel, who disobeyed pandemic protocols despite being fully aware that he was a PUI after senators were exposed to a known COVID-19 carrier. 

In her reply, she apologized for campaigning for the senator and explained that she only did it because her cousin was his ex-wife. Locsin also replied to another tweet saying that she promises it won’t happen again.

Most of us are “wide awake” now, too

Since we’re all cooped up in our houses waiting for updates about the fight against this pandemic, our government’s incompetence has been on full display.

With all that’s happening around us, it’s hard to continue supporting these politicians who keep missing the mark (mostly on purpose). Their failures remind us of their promises from their previous campaigns. Here are some examples of Duterte’s promises being dug up by netizens:

Duterte, along with other problematic politicians, are being tagged as “trapo” (which is a contraction of the phrase “traditional politician”): politicians who promise the world to their soon-to-be constituents, only to break these promises once they’re in power. 

I’ve seen that this has always been the case during elections, where politicians buy our votes by telling us what we want to hear. Amid this pandemic, many of us are now realizing that. Hopefully we become more critical of the politicians we choose to support. The sooner we do this, the less chance that we let these same politicians commit the same injustices by re-electing them for another term. 

 

Art by Tricia Guevara

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