Author: Rochelle Pamotongan

Actress and known Duterte critic Agot Isidro questioned the statement of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque who announced that President Rodrigo Duterte has realized his promise to improve the lives of Filipinos after the country recorded growth in the economy. He said, “Natupad naman ng Pangulo ang pangako nya na komportableng buhay.” Agot did not let this pass and took to Twitter her reaction by raising the question: “Saang parte, Harry?” while tagging #harrystyleisbulok. https://twitter.com/agot_isidro/status/1286237491213762560?s=20 Other netizens also supported the sentiment of Agot and asked what were the fulfilled promises Roque was referring to. https://twitter.com/BIENsays/status/1286239387412344838 https://twitter.com/dEGinto24/status/1286272450687205376 https://twitter.com/CharotismBabies/status/1286246343858507778 https://twitter.com/ivy_vheng/status/1286278056576012294 https://twitter.com/asjrm2003/status/1286249891593936896 In the…

Director of PRO – 7 Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro has raised the idea of tapping rumor mongers to help the government expand its contact tracing capability. “I heard a story last night about this ‘tsismosa brigade’. They could be a good source of (information). I think it was in Bulacan. It was said the help of these ‘tsismosas’ is being sought for contact tracing. So maybe, instead of rumor-mongering, they can do something to help,” he said. He further stated that it is also important to have the community involved in stemming the tide of the coronavirus disease…

Kapamilya star Coco Martin has quieted down over the ABS-CBN network franchise issue. Martin was one of the first artists who lamented about the injustices when ABS-CBN was forced to shut down on May 5. He even furiously slammed both the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) and Solicitor General Jose Calida after the network went off-air to comply with the issued cease and desist order. He took out his frustrations on Instagram and in a series of posts lambasted the “heartless” people behind the decision. “Hindi man ako kasing talino ng iba, alam ko at malinaw sa akin na mali at…

During a televised Inter-Agency Task Force meeting, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III claimed that the country was not capable of testing the entire population for COVID-19. Duque made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte asked if the country has the capacity to conduct testing for every citizen. He further mentioned that even developed countries like the United States of America have not tested each individual therefore there is no such thing as one-is-to-one testing worldwide. Meanwhile, reports showed that countries across Asia such as Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan have successfully mobilized the spread of the virus through…

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque stated that the Palace takes “no stand” on the proposed fines on ABS-CBN being concocted by members of Congress. In a press briefing on July 20, Roque said that the Palace respects the decision of Congress and takes no stand on it. “Wala tayong komento diyan. ‘Yan po ay indibidwal na opinyon ng mga mambabatas. We respect their views but we take no stand.” Following the decision of Congress to deny the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN Network, some congressmen are eyeing to seize more assets from the network. The proposed sanctions were presented by Deputy Speaker…

Kapamilya actress Toni Gonzaga was criticized after she broke her silence on the ABS-CBN franchise denial. After Congress rejected the application of the Lopez-owned media company, its artists, workers, and supporters started to cry out for an appeal for a second chance. This was following the retrenchment program that will see the majority of the employees to be laid off, making most of its 11,000 workers jobless amid the pandemic. Despite Toni’s recent support, some netizens took her optimism as something toxic following her clarification that she is not putting any blame on people in position and their decision should…

Kapamilya actress Ryza Cenon commented about Congress denying ABS-CBN’s application for a franchise renewal, effectively “killing” the network and the livelihood of 11,000 employees. It was on July 10, that Congress passed a verdict not granting ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal application. With this the company was forced to operate on even more limited capacity, thus pushing the company to implement a retrenchment program to enable its operations to continue on other avenues. Many were disappointed by this since the employees were laid off amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Several celebrities have also broken their silence on the franchise issue and among those…

Kapamilya actress Toni Gonzaga finally spoke up about Congress’ rejection of ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal application. In a lengthy Instagram post, she expressed her grief over the ABS-CBN employees that were greatly affected by the retrenchment due to the company’s limited capacity to operate. She said that it was very painful for her to know that many of the people that she used to work with are about to be laid-off. “Every day ang sakit magbukas ng Viber dahil nagpapaalam na lahat ng mga katrabaho namin samin,” she said. Saddened by the effect that it has brought to the innocent workers,…

One of the artists who were criticized over the ABS-CBN franchise renewal issue was Popstar Royalty Sarah Geronimo. With Congress’s rejection of the ABS-CBN network’s application for a franchise renewal, more than 11,000 workers are in danger since the company is forced to implement a major retrenchment due to the limitation of its operations. This prompted the networks’ talents, workers, and supporters to publicly call for an appeal and give their home network a second chance. However, they did not only call out the Congress but as well as other artists who have been silent and have not shown any…

Just days after the House committee on legislative franchises junked ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal application, the company was forced to operate in a limited capacity, thus prompting the implementation of major retrenchments affecting its more than 11,000 workers. Shuttered media workers and supporters were enraged by this that they held a noise barrage and a motorcade in front of the ABS-CBN compound in Quezon City to air their sentiments of Congress who denied the franchise even after all violations were addressed and cleared up. Actress Angel Locsin who was among the protesters called out her fellow talents and asked them to…

Film Academy of the Philippines Director Vivian Velez who is known as a vocal supporter of Duterte, was happy when Congress rejected ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal application. Despite being appointed as the director of the Film Academy, an organization built to serve as a support to various guilds in the movie industry, she instead chose to contradict her mission by not favoring the appeal of one of the largest broadcasting companies in the country. She even congratulated Congress for supposedly doing a favorable job for the country. And for making history after the votes resulted in an overwhelming affirmation of 70…

Jona Viray proves to be a “Fearless Diva” after she fired back at her critics commenting about her network transfer. She started her singing career at GMA Network after she won the now-defunct singing competition “Pinoy Pop Superstar.” In 2016, she decided to take a fresh path and moved to ABS-CBN. Her network move, in light of ABS-CBN being shut down, had her bashers sending her some hate comments. Fortunately, Jona was ready to clap back at them stating “They won’t tag me as fearless diva for nothing.” https://twitter.com/MsJ0NA/status/1283674313518804992?s=20 She also tried to teach her bashers some manners. https://twitter.com/MsJ0NA/status/1283401855662342145 https://twitter.com/MsJ0NA/status/1283410168303071233…

Kapuso actress Jennylyn Mercado trended online after sharing a glimpse of a painful experience. On Twitter, Jennylyn expressed how being “abused as a child” and being “powerless against those in authority” made her a decent person despite her tragic past. She said that her untimely pregnancy with her son Alex Jazz was also one of her hard setbacks in life as her showbiz career was put on hold with no assurance of a comeback. And because of this, she needed to fly to America to earn some money for her family. Despite her horrible experiences, some good resulted from it…

The speech of President Rodrigo Duterte before soldiers in Jolo, Sulu was discovered to be edited after his tirades mentioned ABS-CBN network and Rappler. In the audio recording obtained by Inquirer, the entire speech ran for 40 minutes while the version aired by Radio Television Malacañang (RTVM) only took 35 minutes. This means to say that the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) cut down clips of the speech before publicizing it. The statement removed by PCOO was Duterte’s remarks regarding ABS-CBN, which he alleged maligned him. “Yun namang ABS-CBN binaboy ako. Pero sinabi ko kapag ako nanalo, bubuwagin ko ang…

Couple Kim Molina and Jerald Napoles trended on social media after they were accused of transferring to the GMA network amid the non-renewal of the Kapamilya network franchise. Kim had various projects with ABS-CBN such as The General’s Daughter”, “Kadenang Ginto”, “Bagani”, “Sana Dalawa ang Puso”, “La Luna Sangre”, “A Love to Last”, and “Till I Met You.” Her recent appearance on GMA Network’s noontime variety show Eat Bulaga! made netizens think that she transferred to the other station. The Jowable star received bashing from a netizen after she guested in the show’s segment “Bawal Judgement.” Kim in reply stated…

On July 13, President Rodrigo Duterte happily announced his supposed success in dismantling an ‘oligarch’ in the country without the need to declare martial law. In a speech in front of troops in Jolo, Sulu, Duterte said that he has ended a powerful family that has manipulated and abused the country. He said, “Ganun nila nilaro ang bayan ko. Kung mamatay ako, mahulog ang eroplano, I am very happy. Alam mo bakit? Without declaring martial law I dismantled the oligarchy that controlled the economy and the Filipino people. “They take advantage of their political power every election. Isang kuwarto lang…