MANILA, Philippines – A gathering last week was not the first time that members of the administration’s Liberal Party (LP) had invited the Playgirls to its public event and earned flak for it.
Before the Playgirls twerked and dry-humped on top of men during the birthday party of Laguna Rep. Benjamin Agarao Jr., the group performed the Harlem Shake for LP members in Malabon City in 2013.
Last week’s event that earned the ire of netizens was the second publicized performance of Playgirls at an LP gathering.
In April 2013, The STAR wrote a story on the Playgirls’ performance in Team Malabon’s proclamation rally in front of Malabon City Hall, where they entertained politicians and audience with lewd games complete with thongs and bras.
Team Malabon was led by President Aquino’s cousin, incumbent Mayor Antolin Oreta, who said he didn’t know the Playgirls would be there.
After receiving criticism for the sexually suggestive dances and games, Oreta announced that he was “considering” dropping his vice mayoral candidate, Councilor Edwin Dimagiba, whom he blamed for the flub.
“I was bypassed. I was not consulted,” Oreta said in front of Team Malabon’s 12 candidates for councilor.
Dimagiba, on the other hand, said he “had no knowledge” of the Playgirls’ repertoire.
Oreta said he was “negligent” for not knowing the program but insisted that the preparations were handled by the office of Dimagiba’s cousin, then re-electionist Malabon Rep. Jaye Noel-Lacson. Lacson ran and won under Team Malabon.
Eventually, Oreta dropped Dimagiba and ran with a different vice mayoral candidate.
Malabon’s city council also issued a public apology, saying they “regret” what happened.
The Playgirls’ performance in the proclamation rally two years ago was reminiscent of Agarao’s birthday party. They were clad in denim pants short enough to expose the lower half of their buttocks as they gyrated and sang to a crowd of around 500.
The Playgirls initially invited the candidates of Team Malabon to “play” with them but the politicians declined. They then asked three men from the audience to go onstage and dance with them.
As the crowd cheered them on, the performers took off the men’s shirts and had them wear brassieres before leaving the stage. The crowd went wild when one of the performers, who introduced herself as Pauline Subido, asked a man from the audience to play a sexually suggestive game with her to the tune of Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body.” Subido posted a photo taken during the game on her Facebook page.
One person left a comment on the photo: “Haha! Right with the Malabon (city hall) sign in the background! Classy!”
According to Playgirls’ Facebook page, in 2013 they also campaigned for former Laguna governor ER Ejercito; Cavite 7th district Rep. Bambol Tolentino; Mayor Elyong Hernandez of Rodriguez, Rizal; and Mayor Goto Violago and Vice Mayor Edison Veneracion of San Rafael, Bulacan.
“Maraming salamat sa tiwala sa Playgirls (thank very much for believing in Playgirls),” the group said in the same post.