Members of the Opposition are seething with anger after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s granddaughter did a pre-debut photoshoot inside the Malacanang Palace supposedly for her 18th birthday celebration. Isabelle Duterte has been the talk of the town in social media and her critics are not ready to let go of the issue just yet insisting that she violated the law prohibiting the use of the Presidential Seal and the national flag. While the young Duterte is shown in the photos with the Seal and flag, she wasn’t wearing them. She was just standing beside them. It is worth mentioning that a lot of people who visit the Palace have their photos taken with the same Seal and flag as their backdrop similar to what she had done.
Duterte’s critics are throwing a tantrum and crying foul adding that she disrespected the Presidential Seal and national flag and that she should be severely dealt with administratively, civilly, and criminally. Que horror! These people are acting so desperate and have gone so low that they are actually reduced to bullying a teenager just because she is related to a person they despise. It seems anything the members of the First Family will do will be magnified and blown out of proportion by the Opposition just to get back at President Duterte.
How can they say Duterte disrespected the Presidential Seal? She actually chose to have a photoshoot with it. It simply meant that she wanted to showcase it and was proud to include it in her Birthday celebration. Most people would choose something more glamourous as their venue or backdrop like going to an expensive hotel, but she chose what others would normally consider a boring place where politicians discuss “boring” stuff. And Duterte even made the Palace look like a very glamourous place in her photos. She should be lauded for doing that.
Obviously having a photoshoot in the Palace was a way to remember that her 18th Birthday was when her grandfather was the President. There is no crime in having a photoshoot in Malacanang Palace. She did not inconvenience anyone. She did not have the place shut down just for her shoot because it was done at night. There was very minimal disruption.
Duterte’s critics are just being irrational. Instead of talking about other important issues plaguing the nation, they focus on a child’s photoshoot. And to think those complaining are supposedly fighting for the people. What about the 800,000 people injected with Dengvaxia – the dengue vaccine that is not safe for those who have not contracted the dengue virus before? It seems Duterte’s critics are not concerned about them. They are also not concerned that former President BS Aquino violated the Supreme Court ruling prohibiting the use of unspent funds for other departments. They prefer to divert the public’s attention away from his billion-peso fiasco using Duterte’s grandchild.
It’s no surprise why the Opposition – composed mainly of the Liberal Party – keep losing the debate. They focus on the irrelevant; things that are not going to make a difference to the lives of ordinary Filipinos. Duterte’s photoshoot did not harm anyone except their fragile egos.
Duterte’s critics also make it appear like the photoshoot in the Palace was excessive and extravagant. What’s way more extravagant than her photoshoot was spending millions of pesos (care of the public) building a museum for a mediocre public servant like Jesse Robredo – the late husband of current Vice President Leni Robredo. No public servant deserves a museum. As their title implies, their job is to serve the public. There was nothing special about doing one’s job. He couldn’t even inspire his own wife to be humble and honest. His wife wasn’t humble enough to admit she is not qualified for the Vice Presidency. She is not honest enough to admit that it is possible that there was electoral fraud in the last Presidential Election just like every election ever held in the Philippines. Now she is suffering from irrelevance. But I digress…
Unfortunately, not even the recent Tropical Depression Urduja that devastated some parts of the Visayan region could reduce the attention away from Duterte’s photoshoot. Some people in the Philippines are simply hateful and pathetic. No wonder the country remains a basketcase.
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