On July 19, Angel Locsin gave a fiery speech at the ABS-CBN rally, held nine days after 70 members of the House of Representatives voted against the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise, the biggest broadcast network in the country, amid a global health and economic crisis. In the now-viral video, the former Darna called out (but didn’t name) Kapamilya artists who have stayed silent or have only given the bare minimum during the whole ordeal.
"Sa mga artistang hindi nagsasalita, may career pa ba kayo? Wala na! Wala na kayong network! Kahit magpa-cute kayo diyan sa Instagram, mag-send kayo ng mga sad face… hindi niyo madadamayan ang mga katrabaho niyo na dahilan kung bakit kayo sumikat!”
“Huwag kayong matakot, wala na kayong poprotektahang career o image. Nandito tayo sa panahon na kailangan na ding magsalita...”
“Naiintindihan ko na tayong mga artista expected dapat tahimik lang tayo, dapat sweet ang image, dapat neutral para walang kalaban. Pero pag hindi tayo nagsalita, ibig sabihin no’n kinampihan natin ang mali!
“Hindi ako papayag na do’n ako sa maling part ng history kakampi.”
Hours after videos of the speech went viral, names of top Kapamilya celebrities like Sarah Geronimo and Nadine Lustre started trending on Twitter, possibly prompting the stars to issue their own statements on the rejection of the ABS-CBN franchise renewal.
On her Instagram account, Nadine expressed her solidarity with the network, and her appeal for Filipinos to stop putting each other down, and to fight together for what is right instead.
On her story, she wrote “Gaya ninyo, kapamilya din ako. Gaya ninyo, natatakot ako sa mga nangyayari. Gaya ninyo, nalungkot din ako para sa 11,000+ na taong nawalan ng trabaho. Gaya ninyo, umiiyak ako para sa sariling bansa. Dahil gaya ninyo, Pilipino din ako.”
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Like every other employee of the ABS-CBN, Nadine says she was also affected by the decision to shut down her home network. But she urged everyone to stay focused on the real problem, rather than give attention to things that only cause divisiveness among people.
On another story she posted, “Sana ay ibaling natin ang atensiyon natin sa mga bagay na nararapat pagtuunan ng pansin. Pakiusap, huwag tayong magaway-away at maghati. Wala na tayong oras.”
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Netizens React
The role of celebrities and content creators speaking up about controversial news topics has been a hot debate in Philippine social media lately, with Nas Daily's podcast going viral as well for Wil Dasovich's comments on staying positive and choosing to limit his news intake when asked about the ABS-CBN issue. The same divide can also be seen in the comment section of Jane De Leon's Instagram post.
What's your take on the issue, #GenC? Sound off by commenting below.
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