MANILA, Philippines — Kapuso actress Ai-Ai Delas Alas and director Darryl Yap have both been declared persona non grata or "unwelcome persons" in Quezon City, according to an approved resolution by the city council.
The said resolution filed by Councilor Ivy Lagman from Quezon City's fourth district accused the two artists of defacing the city’s seal in a video posted on the Facebook page of Vincentiments, Yap's production company.
Delas Alas portrayed a character named “Ligaya Delmonte,” a rub on incumbent mayor Joy Belmonte, who had an edited and defaced version of the triangular Quezon City seal behind her.
The text on the seal instead read "BBM" and "Sara," a reference to the tandem of president-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and vice president-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Delas Alas and Yap were both vocal supporters of the UniTeam tandem, who backed the mayoral candidacy of Anakalusugan Rep. Mike Defensor.
Belmonte however won a second consecutive term, beating second-placed Defensor by over 240,000 votes. Lagman missed out on a third consecutive term as she was just over 1,000 votes behind the sixth spot for a fourth district council seat.
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“The malicious and unscrupulous defacing of the official seal of Quezon City ridiculed and [cast] dishonor to it, causing insult to the noble representation of the seal,” Lagman wrote in the resolution. “The people of Quezon City will not let anyone disgrace the official seal of Quezon City for personal and selfish interests.”
Delas Alas has yet to comment on the persona non grata declaration while Yap said he will give an official statement and reaction though another video series for Vincentiments.
Lagman elaborated further on the issue on her own Facebook page, hoping that it will make all content creators think twice before posting anything on social media.
"Freedom of Expression is not absolute. Hindi naman basta-basta na lang na pwede tayo mag-post ng mga gusto natin na hindi man lang pinag-isipan mabuti kung ano ang mga laman ng mga pinalalabas natin sa mga tao," Lagman wrote.
The councilor also clarified that the resolution she penned was not directed towards Marcos Jr. and Duterte-Carpio, but in defense of the official seal of Quezon City.
"Yes you are free to be expressive with your work, but not at the expense of something which QCitizens hold in high regard," Lagman said. "Mahal namin ang Quezon City at ang lokal na pamahalaan nito ay aming nirerespeto. Sana kayo rin."
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