‘Madramang sarswela’: Celebs react to President Duterte’s tête-à-tête
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. Image: Screengrab from YouTube/RTVMalacanang
Filipinos waited for President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s national address-turned-tête-à-tête in bated breath yesterday, Sept. 11. Celebrities who seemed unsatisfied by the President’s statements during the televised one-on-one with Presidential Chief Legal Counsel Secretary Salvador Panelo made use of their respective social media platforms to air out their grievances. At the same time, supporters also expressed their take on the matter.
“The small town Mayor masquerading as President has backed out yet again,” wrote actress Leah Navarro on Twitter when it was initially announced that the President’s press conference will not push through. “Since when did anyone expect any plausible reasons from Duterte? Don’t waste your time, his may be running out.”
After it was made known that the President will be holding a tête-à-tête instead with Panelo, Navarro went unfiltered on her post, likening the tête-à-tête to zarzuela, a Spanish form of musical comedy.
“Tama pa rin ang pahayag na kinansela ang press con ni Duterte. Ang tête-à-tête na ito ay hindi press con, ito ay isang madramang sarsuwela. Pwede rin tawaging komedya na di nakakatawa,” Navarro said.
(The statement that Duterte’s press con was canceled is still correct. The tête-à-tête is not a press con, it is a dramatic zarzuela. It may also be called a comedy that isn’t funny.)
In a separate Tweet, Navarro pondered whether President Duterte and Panelo were trying to imitate former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and David Brinkley. Yesterday marked the 101st birthday of the late dictator who announced his decision to hold a “snap” presidential election, on the American television talk show “This Week with David Brinkley” in November 1985.
That tête-à-tête between Duterte and Panelo: were they trying to mimic the discussion between today’s birthday celebrant, Dictator Marcos, and David Brinkley that led to the fateful Snap Election? Snap, snap, snapped!
— Leah Navarro (@leahnavarro) September 11, 2018
“With this ‘tête-à-tête’, what are you actually selling to the Filipino people?” actress Agot Isidro asked. “That all is well? That everything is under control? The fact that you need to explain things at this point, means you are losing grip. #Propaganda #PuroPaganda”
With this “tête-à-tête”, what are you actually selling to the Filipino people?
That all is well?
That everything is under control?The fact that you need to explain things at this point, means you are losing grip. #Propaganda#PuroPaganda
— Agot Isidro (@agot_isidro) September 11, 2018
Award-winning actress Chai Fonacer seemed unsatisfied by the tête-à-tête as well after she retweeted former solicitor general Florin Hilbay’s post.
“What a sad, tragic and unfortunate misuse of the national attention,” Hilbay said, expressing his disappointment over yesterday’s interview. “Instead of focusing on the economy, the President admits to wiretapping Filipinos through a foreign country, exposes his fundamental ignorance of the [Constitution], and reveals his insecurities. Such a friggin waste.”
Image: Screengrab from Twitter/@rrrabidcat
Meanwhile, a staunch supporter of the administration, blogger and columnist Sass Rogando Sasot shared the video of the President’s tête-à-tête, using the hashtags “#ComfortableLifeForAll” and “#PartnerForChange.”
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte discusses several issues with Presidential Chief Legal Counsel Secretary Salvador Panelo at the Rizal Hall in Malacañan Palace on September 11, 2018. #ComfortableLifeForAll#PartnerForChange
Posted by For the Motherland – Sass Rogando Sasot on Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Another pro-Duterte blogger, Rey Joseph Nieto (a.k.a. Thinking Pinoy), gave his two cents on yesterday’s interview.
“After an hour an a half, let me just say that Pres. Rody Duterte’s ‘Address to the Nation’ is basically a national version of his Davao show ‘Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa’. Yun lang (That’s all),” he stated on Twitter.
After an hour an a half, let me just say that Pres. Rody Duterte's "Address to the Nation" is basically a national version of his Davao show Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa.
Yun lang. https://t.co/g2cuxe6gwW pic.twitter.com/Qse94w4Imw
— ThinkingPinoy (@iMthinkingPinoy) September 11, 2018
“Mula sa Masa, Para sa Masa” (From the Masses, For the Masses) is a weekly television program hosted by the President, alongside People’s Television Network’s Rocky Ignacio. The President makes use of the program to discuss the problems that the country faced during the week, as well as to expound on the administration’s policies and projects. JB
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