Former Bayan Muna congressman Teddy Casiño and Vice Ganda. Photos from Teddy Casiño facebook page, and INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – It was nothing but a “frank exchange” of tweets.
Both Vice Ganda and former Bayan Muna congressman Teddy Casiño played down their Twitter exchanges over the State of the Nation Address (Sona) protests.
On Monday, Vice Ganda (@vicegandako) posted on Twitter, “Hindi lahat ng nagpoprotesta totoong nag aaklas. Yung iba dyan nabayaran lang at sinuhulan ng pambili ng bigas.”
(Not all protesters are truly against the government. Some were bribed with money to buy rice.)
Casiño replied by saying, “Yung umattend sa loob ng Congress sinuhulan ng bilyon bilyon sa DAP.”
(Those who attended the Sona in Congress were bribed with billions of pesos through the DAP [Disbursement Acceleration Program].)
But Vice Ganda told ABS-CBN that he and the former lawmaker were okay. He said he even voted for Casiño when he ran for senator during the 2013 elections.
“There was no fight, we are just exchanging frank comments about what’s happening. Eh matalinong tao ‘yon (He’s an intelligent person),” he said after explaining that he was referring only to some people and not all protesters.
Casiño said he was also surprised that the exchange went viral and even became news.
“It was just a frank exchange,” he told INQUIRER.net.
However, he admitted that many of his fellow activists were offended by the comment, which was the reason why the comedian-host eventually had to explain his post.
“He’s entitled to his own opinion but he should have checked his facts,” Casiño said.
As one of the organizers of the rally, he said it was not their policy or practice to dole out money to protesters.
He said perhaps Vice Ganda, who has probably been invited to political rallies before, was used to seeing participants being fed and given money by politicians.
For his part, however, Casiño said the participants themselves raise their own funds for their transportation and meals.
He said community-based groups usually gathered whatever little money they had to cook their own meals, which they bring to the protest.
Casiño said that he also respects Vice Ganda and is in fact one of his four million followers on Twitter.
He said Vice Ganda, as an influential person, has political views that elicit insightful discussion.
“It would be good if it would be nice to have coffee with him one of these days just to discuss these things,” he said.
The rally during President Benigno Aquino III’s fifth State of the Nation Address (Sona) was said to be among the biggest protests held in the past several years. The number of attendees was estimated to be around 7,500 to 20,000. Simultaneous protests were also held in the Visayas and Mindanao.
https://storify.com/inquirerdotnet/vice-ganda-teddy-casino-twitter-exchange