A picture of Ka Leody De Guzman with his family on Christmas eve with his supposed lavish dinner setup and expensive dog drew the attention of bashers. Image from Twitter / Ka Leody de Guzman
MANILA, Philippines — Supporters of presidential aspirant Ka Leody de Guzman have condemned claims that the labor leader is merely pretending to be a man of the masses after he posted on social media a supposedly posh Christmas eve dinner.
Fellow labor leader Merck Maguddayao said on Facebook on Saturday, Christmas day, that De Guzman has long been a unionist, which allowed him to receive more benefits under collective bargaining agreements (CBA) with companies — like how a middle-income earner would do.
Thus, Maguddayao said it doesn’t follow that workers and middle-class income earners can live in dignity too.
Also, he noted that De Guzman’s presidential bid is also borne of this belief that workers like him should also be entitled to dignified living conditions, where factory personnel are not reduced to a life of constant poverty.
“Unyonista at regular si Ka Leody nung nasa pabrika siya. Bilang unyonista, may [CBA] benefits siya kung saan lahat ng wage and benefits ay lagpas sa kung anong nakalagay sa Labor Code. Ibig sabihin, factory worker man siya, middle-income ang kinikita niya nang mahigit isang dekada,” Maguddayao said.
“Precisely kaya naging organisador at pambansang labor leader si Ka Leody pagkatapos mamabrika. He shares the vision of the labor and socialist movement na #SanaAll ng manggagawa may maayos na middle-income na buhay kung saan may living wage, regular sa trabaho, at may union rights/CBA benefits,” he added.
Former University of the Philippines (UP) professor and author Herbert Docena on the other hand gave credit to De Guzman’s wife — also a laborer like the presidential bet — and their children who have stayed beside De Guzman through the years and for managing to build comfortable lives.
“So this pic apparently got so much hate from partisans of a certain candidate on Twitter — and on Christmas Day, no less. The gist: fake or ipokrito daw si Ka Leody De Guzman because he’s ‘burgis’ naman pala — look at that corgi! Look at those dinner plates! There’s so much to say about that charge, but I’m thinking now not of the plates or the dog but of the other people in this picture,” Docena said in a separate Facebook post.
“(T)hrough all these decades, Ka Leody’s wife and children have stayed by his side. As others have pointed out: they’re really the ones who have worked so hard, as full-time employees and small entrepreneurs, so that their household can have those nice dinner plates and that adorable corgi,” he added.
The controversy started after De Guzman posted on Twitter a photo of him and his family early Christmas morning before their Noche Buena meal. Netizens however took notice of the nicely set dinner table and the overall interior of the De Guzman household, calling him “burgis”, the Filipino slang for bourgeois or acting typical of the middle or upper class.
Makabuluhang Pasko sa ating lahat mula sa amin ni Marie, at mga anak na si Lei, Dex, Ash, Gucci (in no particular order) pic.twitter.com/Kyj0ugmKKF
— Ka Leody de Guzman (@LeodyManggagawa) December 24, 2021
INQUIRER.net has asked De Guzman to comment on the issue, but he has not issued a response as of posting time.
Several of the people who replied to De Guzman’s status — some who identify as supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo’s presidential bid in 2022 — claimed that based on the appearance of the labor leader’s home, he was living well-off.
One even said that they thought De Guzman, who once worked in the garments industry, belonged to an impoverished community.
Ay ang shalabels naman pala niya… akala ko poorita mirasol itashi. Kung maka hanash akala one of the slap soils of the Ph. May expensive doggo pa siya, i think 70 kiyaw ata ang pinaka chippy chips na ganyan. Eniwey maligayang pasko sa bongang bongang handa niyo. Char!
🤭🧐😙😆
— Young-hee (@doll_younghee) December 25, 2021
De Guzman’s supporters on Twitter however asked his critics whether workers do not have any right to earn and save money, and eventually live comfortable lives.
“Bruh ulitin mo nga? Di ba kaya ng manggagawa ang ganyan? Wala bang karapatan ang manggagawa na umasenso? No investigation, no right to speak,” one commenter said.
https://twitter.com/ulfbeatgarlic/status/1474758394313846784
“Walang masama sa picture. Nasanay lang kayo na kapag mahirap ang irerepresent ng politico, mahirap din dapat pamilya niya. FYI, kung galing sila sa hirap and nagsikap upang umunlad at hindi galing sa nakaw yung pera, walang masama doon. Maging matalino naman kayo,” another added.
Some supporters of fellow presidential bet Leni Robredo also admonished De Guzman’s bashers to shut up and let him enjoy the fruits of his decades-long hard work.
“Hi Ka Leody. Kakampink ako at paumanhin na po kayo sa ugali ng ibang kakampink or nagpapanggap lang na kakampink. Merry Christmas po. At deserve ninyo ang mga nakahain sa mesa ninyo at magandang bahay na tinitirahan,” a Robredo supporter said.
Despite the ruckus, Docena said that he is happy that Filipinos are now having conversations about De Guzman’s case, that workers can have dignified statures in society.
He noted that this opens another worldview of how the masses live, which is a departure from the common depiction of the common folk in media where the poor remain poor for the rest of their lives.
“Why do we celebrate or even romanticize the poor when they’re begging for lugaw, lining up at our community pantries, or singing Christmas carols for alms—and yet hate on them when, like Ka Leody’s family they somehow actually manage to lift themselves up by their bootstraps and still continue fighting for such basic reforms as increased minimum wages or for more radical changes such as building a socialist society?” Docena asked.
“We seem to love the poor only when they’re submissive and docile — when they’re charity cases. But our respect for them appears to end the moment they start demanding more and actually begin questioning why there’s a need for charity to begin with,” he added.