Ethel Booba and Rufa Mae Quinto brought the laughs in the latest episode of “Gandang Gabi Vice” to the point that host Vice Ganda even took a backseat to their banter.
However, Booba — real name Ethyl Gabison — also touched on politics, between jokes and her signature expression “charot!”
“Yung mga fake news talaga, kilala ko kayo,” said the comedian. (Those who peddle fake news, I know you.)
“Sinu-sino ba sila (who are they) Ethel Booba?” asked Vice.
“Starts with the letter ‘m,’” she replied.
“And ends with the letter?” Vice asked again.
“C!” Booba said jokingly.
Vice Ganda explained that she was referring to a “Mr. C”, their boss at a comedy bar.
“Charot lang (just kidding),” said Booba.
On handling fake news, this was her take: “Libre ang Google, ‘wag kayong t*nga. Samantalahin ninyo.” (Google is free, don’t be ignorant. Take advantage of it.)
“Alamin ang totoo kasi ‘di naman talaga iyan i-a-approve ng PAMET bago pumasok sa Google,” she said in jest. (Find out the truth because PAMET won’t approve it before it enters Google.)
PAMET stands for the Philippine Association of Medical Technologists, though Booba was probably making a point that authoritative bodies don’t approve everything that’s online.
And if she were to contribute her voice to Waze, Booba said she would warn of police officers. Imitating the GPS navigation app, she said, “Don’t turn right, there’s a policeman. Just turn left, para di ka matokhang.”
Though “tokhang” refers to a police officer asking suspected drug traffickers or users to surrender, the term has become synonymous with being randomly killed or summarily executed in line with the current administration’s war on drugs.
Netizens speculated that the “m” she was referring to was Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Asst. Secretary Mocha Uson.
Ethel Booba shading @MochaUson as peddler of #fakenews on national TV. 😂😂😂 #GGVBOOBAstic
— 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐊𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐳𝐲 (@krizzy_kalerqui) March 4, 2018
“Ethel Booba shading Mocha Uson as peddler of fake news on national TV,” tweeted netizen @krizzy_kalerqui.
The week before, Booba responded to Asec. Uson’s Facebook poll on the EDSA revolution with her own survey on Twitter.
READ: Ethel Booba cheekily takes a jab at Mocha Uson’s ‘EDSA fake news’ FB poll
She has also been vocal on political issues, including the prevalence of fake news.
Same with drugs eh salot din sa lipunan yang fake news dahil madami ng utak ang sinira nyan. Charot!
— Charot! (@IamCharotism) February 24, 2018
On Feb. 24 she tweeted, “Same with drugs eh salot din sa lipunan yang fake news dahil madami ng utak ang sinira nyan. Charot!” (Just like drugs, fake news is a plague to society because it has destroyed a lot of minds.)
It’s certainly interesting times when comedians talk a lot of sense. Niña V. Guno/JB
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