MANILA, Philippines — As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, Angel Locsin couldn’t help but question why ABS-CBN remains the object of focus despite other pressing matters that need to be addressed.
Image: Instagram/@therealangellocsin
Locsin aired her concerns in an open letter posted on Instagram Wednesday. The open letter was addressed “to whom it may concern.”
“Make sure you have plans for the many workers and business owners who lost their income,” the actress said.
“Ang daming time pag-initan ang ABS, i-prioritize pa ang renaming ng airport, anti-terrorist bill,” she added, referring to the shutdown of her mother network ABS-CBN, the bid to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the impending approval of the controversial anti-terror bill.
(They have so much time to put pressure on ABS-CBN, renaming the airport and the anti-terrorist bill.)
Instead of focusing on such issues, Locsin said: “Pero ang kailangan marinig ay ang plano tungkol sa COVID-19 and frontliners, plano sa edukasyon para sa mahihirap na walang access sa internet o magtuturo sa bahay, balik probinsya, OFWs na stranded sa ibang bansa, kabuhayan nag nawalan ng trabaho.”
(But what we need to hear is the plan regarding COVID-19 and the frontliners, plans on education for the poor who have no access to the internet or who will teach at home, the back to the province program, OFWs who have been stranded in other countries, plans for those who lost their jobs.)
“Paano na ang tradisyunal na jeepney drivers? Paano ang mga senior citizens? At sa kung anong kakaharapin ng masang Pilipino pagkatapos ng pandemya?” she further questioned.
(How about the traditional jeepney drivers? How about the senior citizens? And what will the Filipinos face after the pandemic?)”
And in ending her letter, she addressed herself not as Locsin, but as a “taxpayer.”
During the onset of the pandemic, Locsin has been actively taking part in initiatives to extend assistance to frontliners in the health crisis.
The actress, along with Anne Curtis and Dimples Romana, launched the Shop and Share project which, according to its official website, aims “to help our fellow Filipinos who need to be tested during this COVID-19 pandemic.”
Locsin’s other efforts include the UniTENTweStandPH campaign, which raised P11 million to provide tents to overcrowded hospitals nationwide.