Albay Gov. Joey Salceda and Actor Xian Lim FILE PHOTOS
LEGAZPI CITY— Actor Xian Lim is now getting heavy flak in social media from Albayanos, particularly from Gov. Joey Salceda, for saying “I’m not here to promote Albay” while in this city Thursday to guest in a Chinese New Year event sponsored by the province.
A fuming Salceda, in one of his series of Facebook posts Friday, said Lim could not be forgiven for his rude remarks, especially since he was paid by the provincial government a hefty P350,000 to appear in “Fiesta Tsinoy,” an event of Filipino-Chinese community in Albay held at the Albay Astrodome here on Thursday night.
“No forgiveness deserved. He insulted Albayanos across generations,” Salceda wrote even after Lim apologized to the governor and the people of Albay for refusing to accept a souvenir shirt and rejecting a coffee table book promoting the province.
Salceda, in a phone interview Friday, told INQUIRER.net that as a “usual courtesy”, Lim was given a t-shirt and a coffee table book but the actor refused to accept those saying “I am not here to promote Albay.”
Lim has issued an apology through his Twitter account saying he was “misunderstood.”
“I just read an online article about an incident which is deeply upsetting because it doesn’t tell the right story. In the article I was quoted as saying ‘I am not here to promote Albay’, something I never said or would ever say,” Lim said.
But Salceda refuted the statement and said the actor was not telling the truth.
“All facts are pointing out that he is lying. He was so rude,” he said, adding that the actor rejected the “constant kindness’’ of the Albayanos.
“He refused our hospitality. We are deeply hurt,” he added.
Carol Sabio, the chief of staff of Salceda, said Lim was at the Oriental Hotel here on Thursday morning when the actor rudely rejected the gifts she was handing to him: a t-shirt printed with ‘Warm Albay’ and an Albay coffee table book.
“While I am handing the T-shirt he said he did not like it. Then I tried to give the coffee table book. Instead, he responded with ‘I’m not here to promote Albay.’ After that I just asked him to have a photo together (with us) but he was so uncomfortable as he looked in the camera,” Sabio said in a phone interview.
The governor, who was in the same hotel when the incident happened, said he got very angry when he was told by his staff of Lim’s rude behavior.
“It’s either 1. His parents did not raise him well. 2. He had bad education. 3. He is not managed well. 4. His character is inversely proportional to his looks. 5. He is on something,” he said in his official Facebook page.
The post immediately generated negative reactions from thousands of Albayanos and followers of Salceda.
Reacting to the incident, Lim, through the official website of his network ABS-CBN, apologized to Salceda and the people of Albay for refusing to wear a souvenir shirt promoting the province.
The report said Lim refused to wear the shirt to avoid conflict with his clothing endorsement.
“I just read an online article about an incident which is deeply upsetting because it doesn’t tell the right story. In the article I was quoted as saying ‘I am not here to promote Albay’, something I never said or would ever say,” Lim said.
“”My parents raised me to be respectful and generous to everyone, and my management has always stressed the virtues of decency and humility. I do not do drugs and have worked hard to get to where I am. If you send me the t shirt and after I have cleared it with my clothing endorsement, I would be more than happy to wear it online and on air. I am also very willing to promote the book of Albay,” he added.
But Salceda refuted the statement and said the actor was not telling the truth.
“All facts are pointing out that he is lying. He was so rude,” he said, adding that the actor rejected the “constant kindness’’ of the Albayanos.
“He refused our hospitality. We are deeply hurt,” he added.
“Liars go somewhere,” he said, adding the actor could have just issued an apology and acknowledged that his behavior was wrong.
He said the t-shirt was given as a souvenir and guests were never asked to wear it.
He said Lim also lied when the latter denied saying “I am not here to promote Albay.”
“Our chief-of-staff posted it as a comment as early as 1pm yesterday. We did not upload it because we did not want to affect the Fiesta Tsinoy affair.”
“Since we paid ABSCBN Starmagic for his services, we expect them to be fair in reporting this hurtful PTCAO (provincial tourism office) .. incident. Ordinary PTCAO working staff ang hiniya at ininsulto niya..,” said the governor.