NHC, ASC make turnabout

The Ad Standards Council (ASC) has recalled the clearance for the airing of an EQ diaper TV commercial which is a spoof on the Battle of Mactan.

This, after the National Historical Commission (NHC) issued a cease and desist order against the diaper commercial.

What hypocrites!

The ASC and NHC had approved the airing of the commercial earlier.

They took back their approval after a protest from Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza.

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I have photocopies of a clearance from NHC Executive Director Ludovico Badoy and the Ad Standard Council for the airing of the EQ diaper commercial on television.

Are the NHC’s Badoy and the ASC so lacking in backbone that they could be intimidated by a small-town official who doesn’t have a sense of humor, or rather a sense of the absurd?

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What’s wrong with a TV commercial that parodies the Battle of Mactan between Filipino hero Lapu-Lapu and Spanish intruder Ferdinand Magellan?

Many other TV and radio commercials are just as inane, or worse than the EQ diaper commercial,  but they were not pulled out by the ASC.

Pulling out the commercial on TV was a violation of the constitutional provision of free expression.

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The consul general in Vancouver, Jose Ampeso, made a spectacle of himself while talking to his compatriots in an allegedly drunken state during the Philippine mission’s Passport Renewal Outreach program at a first-class hotel in Alberta, Canada.

Ampeso is being recalled home to explain his side, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

If true, Ampeso is not alone in making a clown of himself in public when he’s intoxicated.

A Cabinet member, who has been seen drunk several times in public, has the same problem.

The Cabinet official was once seen at the lobby of a five-star hotel slouched on a couch after having had one too many.

Sen. Chiz Escudero, who’s dating actress Heart Evangelista, has been denounced by the girl’s parents, Rey and Cecil Ongpauco, for uncouth behavior and by allegedly being under the influence of alcohol as he talked to them.

The Cabinet official and Escudero reportedly had a drinking session in the wee hours in Malacañang once where both got drunk and the senator became unruly, calling the President names, according to my Palace source.

Persons who hold responsible positions in government debase their office when they behave like drunken bums in public.

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I’m not being judgmental on the Cabinet official and Escudero because I once had a drinking problem.

I made an ass of myself in public many times when I had one too many.

I still drink, but I try to control my behavior when I’m in public; or I control my alcohol intake at the thought that I might make a fool of myself again.

I admit that during Christmas parties with my staff I let my hair down to convey a message to my present and former staff that I’m a just a regular guy; but that happens only once a year.

This is just a piece of advice from someone who’s been there, done that—and regretted it.