Lea Salonga scolds Senator Sherwin Gatchalian over foul tweets

Broadway star Lea Salonga has something to say about Philippine Senator Sherwin Gatchalian’s recent twitter meltdown. Salonga shared her thoughts in a tweet posted yesterday.

If you weren’t following the story, here’s how the Twitter drama went down:

On New Year’s Day, Gatchalian replied to a tweet by Maria Ressa, head of local online news site Rappler, to a story she posted about the opposition party calling 2018 “a fight for the nation’s soul.”

Gatchalian, currently allied with the Duterte administration’s supermajority, replied “the nation already lost its soul in the last 6 years,” referring to the presidency of Benigno Aquino III, who served from 2010 t0 2016.

Gatchalian, 43, comes from a political dynasty based in Valenzuela City, Metro Manila. He previously served three terms as mayor and two terms in the House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 2016.

But one netizen dug into Gatchalian’s twitter account and found old tweets praising the Aquino administration.

Gatchalian wasn’t too happy about that.

“Idiot! What year was that?” Gatchalian tweeted.

Other netizens joined in and called him a “trapo” (traditional politician) and “balimbing” (a turncoat).

To that, he called the netizens “gago (idiot)!”

Another netizen Romdel Bellosillo called out Gatchalian for the insult, “Wow the gall this senator Gatchalian has is unbelievable… ‘ingrato’ (ungrateful)” he said.


To that, Gatchalian said, “ulol” (fool).

Some netizens tried to give Gatchalian the benefit of the doubt and said it’s possible his account was hacked. But Gatchalian confirmed it was him.

He didn’t apologize though and blamed “bashers” for his reaction.


“We’re also humans. We also have breaking points, because we’re not numb,” Gatchalian tweeted in Tagalog.

Filipino musical theater queen and very woke celebrity Salonga showed little sympathy for Gatchalian’s explanation and basically told him to suck it up.

“Oh dear if you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. Being a public figure means having to deal with haters and bashers from time to time,” Salonga tweeted to Maria Ressa. “Whether in person or on social media. Keeping the eyes on what’s important is what keeps one sane through the craziness.”


She shared that she herself has been called names on social media on many occasions. “The stuff I’ve been called on social media through the years is enough to drive one crazy,” she said. “but it hasn’t. I won’t let the haters and bashers win. Besides, there are more good people out there than not.”

She also shared wise advice for other public figures on social media. “You’re fair game the moment you open an account, and it can really test your patience and resolve,” Salonga said. “That said, however, we should all engage fully mindful of the impact our words have on one another. Let’s keep all discourses respectful, even when our opinions are contrary to someone else’s. Thanks, that is all.”



Reader Interactions

Leave A Reply


BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on