Admiring Agot Isidro’s guts

As expected, Agot Isidro was subjected to cyber bashing by supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte on Facebook because of her post.

The singer-actress on Friday reacted to President Duterte’s pronouncement that he would rather die of hunger than accept aid from superpowers that wish to meddle in his war against illegal drugs.

In a Facebook post that has gone viral, Agot called President Duterte a “psychopath.”

Agot’s post read: “Unang-una, walang umaaway sa iyo. As a matter of fact, ikaw ang nang-aaway. Pangalawa, yung bansa kung saan ka inuluklok ng 16 million out of 100+ million people ay Third World. Kung makapagsalita ka parang superpower ang Pilipinas eh. At excuse me, ayaw namin magutom. Mag-isa ka na lang. Huwag kang mandamay. Hindi na nga nakakain ang nakararami, gugutumin mo pa lalo. Pangatlo, may kilala along psychiatrist. Patingin ka. Hindi ka bipolar. You are a psychopath.”

Yesterday, we read a news report which said the President reacted to Agot’s post. In the news report, the President was quoted saying: “May nagalit [na] isang artista sa akin, psychopath daw ako,” he said during the oath-taking of new officials in Malacañang.

 “I leave her to her constitutional right to free expression. She should enjoy that,” Duterte said.

After Agot posted her opinion on Facebook, she was immediately swamped with comments that maligned her. Even her not being able to bear a child and her separation from her husband was not spared.

We admire Agot’s guts to say her piece. We don’t buy the idea that she was just out to get attention that prompted her to post that remark on Facebook. She just articulated the sentiments of other people who are not also happy with the pronouncements of the President with regards to certain matters.

We are in a democracy, and as President Duterte himself said, we have the constitutional right to free expression. The problem with some (not all) Duterte diehards, they feel that they are just the ones who are allowed to say what they feel. They seem to have this notion that only them (Duterte diehards) are the ones in the know. Sila lang ang tama.

 If you read social media posts, Duterte diehards give this impression that if you say any negative comment about President Duterte, they are ready to pounce on you. Whatever happened to free speech?

 Anyone who says something negative about Duterte is labeled as “kultong dilaw,” “Yellowtard,” “kampon ni Mar Roxas,” etc. If you go against them, you are labeled as an enemy. Sad to say, some Duterte diehards don’t play fair. Either you are for them or against them.

 Robin Padilla, a known Duterte supporter, gave his reaction on the social media post of Agot. In a news item that appeared in ABS-CBN.news.com, Robin calmly gave his reaction on the burning issue.

 The action star said, “Lahat naman tayo ay may opinion dahil tayo ay nasa malayang bansa. Sabi nga ni Mayor mismo, si Mayor mismo nagsalita na that is our right and he will protect our right. Siya ang nagsabi noon na karapatan natin.”

 Robin added that there are more pressing issues that the country is facing that need our attention.

 “Ngayon ang ano lang dyan ang dami-daming problema ng bansa, huwag na tayo mag-away-away. Yung opinion niya, opinion niya yun. Ang nangyari kasi lumalaki na eh,” Robin was quoted as saying.

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After winning the Special Jury Prize at the Eurasia International Film Festival, the next stop of the acclaimed Louie Ignacio film “Area” from BG Productions is the QCinema Film Festival.

 “Area” will be the closing film (October 22) of the said festival. Expected to grace the event are Direk Louie, the lead stars Ai Ai delas Alas and Allen Dizon and other cast members and film producer Ms.Baby F. Go.

 The Pinoy audience will finally get the chance to see the movie that earned acclaim at Kazakhstan. Ai Ai and Allen may not have been lucky enough to win acting honors but suffice to say their performances drew notice.

“Area” is set to compete in other international film festivals and was submitted as entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival.