NAPC apologizes to Robredo, Agot Isidro for ‘distasteful’ post

The National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) on Monday apologized to Vice President Leni Robredo and actress Agot Isidro for what it called a “distasteful” post on its official social media accounts.

“Certain distasteful statements have been posted in our Facebook page that in no way reflect NAPC’s views or values. We sincerely apologize to Vice President Robredo, Ms. Isidro, and to the public in general. We are now investigating this matter internally,” the NAPC said in a statement.The controversial post has already been deleted, but netizens were able to take a screenshot of it, which read: “Ang pagkakapareho ni Agot Isidro at VP Leni Robredo—takot silang magutom (The similarity between Agot Isidro and VP Leni Robredo is they are both afraid to go hungry)!”The post was apparently alluding to the stance of Robredo and Isidro on President Rodrigo Duterte’s continuous tirades against the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations. The President belittled as “crumbs” the donations that the Philippines has been receiving from the foreign bodies. Isidro took her criticisms against Duterte on Facebook, saying Filipinos did not want to get hungry and calling the President a “psychopath.”

READ: Actress Agot Isidro calls Duterte ‘psychopath’; Palace reacts

Robredo, meanwhile , underscored the Philippines’ diplomatic relations with the international community, noting
that the country’s ties with aid givers were not mere “beggar-donor relationship.”

READ: PH int’l ties not a ‘beggar-donor’ relationship—Robredo

Citing a “recalibrated” foreign policy, Duterte has launched a series of tirades against the US, the European Union, and the United Nations for calling him out on alleged extrajudicial killings and human rights violations in the government’s bloody war on drugs.

“Mamili kayo (You choose) — the crumbs of the favor of other nations, mag-asa lang tayo sa assistance nila (we just depend on their assistance), or we make a stand that this country must survive, that this country must see to it that the next generation is protected?” Duterte said in his speech last week. JE/rga