ZHUBIZ CHEZMIZ: MANILA- Kakie Pangilinan dared to apologize, leave Philippines for being critical of Marcos
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Singer-songwriter Kakie Pangilinan tweeted on June 7 to her followers to consider “99.99% of [her] past tweets null and void.”
According to her, “I am simply no longer that person. I invoke the age-old rule that people are allowed to change.”
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What she really meant was never clear, but Showbiz Now Na! host Cristy Fermin (joined by Morly Alinio and Romel Chika Villamor) assumed that it was about her critical stances towards President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.
“Nagalit ang mga loyalista ng pamilya Marcos, lalo na ang mga solid BBM. Natural, ganu’n na lang daw ba iyon? Wala man lang daw kakambal na pagso-sorry, paghihingi ng tawad sa kanyang mga sinabi na ‘yung isyung halalan daw po sa COMELEC [Commission on Elections] ay matagal nang naibenta!,” claimed the gossip columnist in their Monday (June 28) episode on YouTube.
(Loyalists of the Marcos family were outraged, especially those solid BBM people. Naturally, they asked if that was just it. Not even an apology, a plea for forgiveness for the time she said in front of COMELEC’s office that, for a long time, the elections were bought!)
While Alinio said that Pangilinan did nothing wrong and that she had the right to speak her mind, Fermin and Villamor begged to differ. Though agreeing with Alinio, they believed that Pangilinan should have apologized to Marcos supporters instead of allegedly sweeping the issue under the rug.
Fermin recalled how apologists dared Pangilinan to leave the country for not wanting to recognize Marcos as the president of the Philippines. She recalled “ibig sabihin siguro ng mga BBM supporters na ganu’n ang sinabi mo na hindi mo matatangap na ang apelyido pa rin ng bagong pangulo ay Marcos, bakit ka pa nandito? Pumunta ka na lang sa ibang bansa.”
(What BBM supporters meant is that if you can’t accept the new president who bears the Marcos surname, then why don’t you just leave? Go to another country instead.)
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Not just about the results
Fermin was referring to a protest Pangilinan joined last May 10. She, alongside progressive and rights groups, protested the then-partial and unofficial results outside COMELEC’s main office in Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros This was after reports of electoral fraud and voter disenfranchisement were raised as Marcos, the son and namesake of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., took the lead.
“I am not going to have my president be named Ferdinand Marcos again. Ever,” Pangilinan told Altermidya in an interview that day.
A day later, she would double down on her stances on Twitter, emphasizing that “we are not protesting election results, regardless of outcome. We are protesting vote-buying, vote-tampering, years of [calculated disinformation], propaganda dispersion, machine politics, and all systemic injustice that led to 30 million votes for the son of an ousted dictator.”
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Even before the elections, the artist (one of two daughters Megastar Sharon Cuneta and former Sen. Kiko Pangilinan) is no stranger to dipping her toes in political issues.
On her being vocally critical on social media, the young artist told Rappler that “everything is political,” but acknowledged that speaking-up can be a privilege. Regardless, she hoped that celebrities and even other people would continue to talk about contemporary issues.
“[…] at the same time, to people who are able to, more comfortably than others, I hope that they realize that now is the time, that to a certain extent it becomes a responsibility and a duty. I think that it becomes a responsibility to speak out about it, especially if you are in conditions that would warrant you safer than others, right?” Pangilinan shared.
Reuben Pio Martinez is a news writer who covers stories on various communities and scientific matters. He regularly tunes in to local happenings. The views expressed are his own.
