Comedian and It’s Showtime host Vice Ganda is not chillin’ today.
In today’s episode of the noontime show, June 22, Vice Ganda during the show’s segment, Reina ng Tahanan, asked a contestant who was her former boyfriend before meeting her current partner.
The contestant then jokingly said that her ex-boyfriend was Alfred Vargas.
Vice Ganda quipped, that he was the congressman who abstained to vote for ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal bid.
“Ahh! Yung congressman! Tapos nag-inhibit n’ung botohan ng ano—ng franchise—si Alfred Vargas.
“So alam n’yo na sa eleksyon,” Vice joked.
There is truth to Vice Ganda’s words.
Quezon City 5th District Representative Alfred Vargas did not vote during the Network’s franchise renewal application.
This hatred from Netizens to Vargas also stemmed after the actor-congressman was positive that ABS-CBN will have its franchise renewal bid approved.
Before Congress deal with ABS-CBN’s franchise, Vargas was concerned that the Network if shut down amid the pandemic, would result in thousands and thousands of jobless Filipinos.
“S’yempre para sa akin eh marami pa ring trabaho ang nabibigay ng Network and sana maayos. And then kasi naman ang concern ko maraming mawawalan ng trabaho and sana kung anuman yung problema, sana anuman ang mangyari eh maayos pa rin in the end, dahil ano yan eh, kumbaga institusyon, institusyon,” Vargas expressed once in an interview.
But Vargas shocked everyone after he chose to inhibit himself from voting due to “conflict of interest.”
Vargas’s decision received flak from netizens forcing him to take a break from social media where the bashing originated.
Kapamilya supporters have concluded that the actor-politician does not support the Network that built his acting career.
Lolit Solis, talent manager of the actor-politician, defended him for his decision. She explained that Vargas was only following his conscience and did not take sides.
“Hindi siya naduwag, ayaw lang niyang gawin ang isang bagay na half-hearted siya. Ayaw niya guluhin siya ng konsensiya niya sa pagpili ng hindi buo ang puso at utak niya.
“The commitment of Cong. Alfred Vargas is to his conscience, hindi kahit kanino o saan,” clarified Solis.
However, such decision of Vargas not only drew negative criticism but also impacted his acting career. In his 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) movie, Tagpuan, netizens were eager to boycott his film because of his inhibition to support ABS-CBN.
This is when he broke his silence and explained why there was such a conflict of interest.
“I just want to set the record straight. I inhibited from voting because of the circumstances that I was in. We want to always follow the law,” explained Vargas.
And his inhibition resulted in the ABS-CBN’s franchise application being rejected, with a vote of 70-11.
The network then shut down in May 2020, forcing it to go off-air and switch to digital platforms. ABS-CBN also agreed with A2Z and TV5 to continue airing its programs on free TV.
However, a franchise-less TV network such as ABS-CBN only led to a growing loss. After a year of being off the air, the Kapamilya Network’s losses have soared to P13.5 billion pesos.
