What’s going on here?!
On Saturday Maalaala Mo Kaya (Can You Remember), one of the longest-running TV drama programs in the Philippines, announced that they’ll be featuring the life story of Christopher “Bong” Go, President Rodrigo Duterte’s long-time assistant.
Go will be played by actor Joseph Marco while Duterte will be played by veteran action star Philip Salvador. The episode will air on Feb. 9, Saturday.
It’s the kind of announcement that threw netizens off for a loop, even if Go’s face has appeared everywhere ever since rumors started that he was going to run for senator in this year’s mid-term elections (spoiler alert: the rumor turned out to be true).
Judging by netizens’ reactions, it appears that many of them are not-so-thrilled with the idea of watching Go’s life story dramatized on television.
Reacting to Maalaala Mo Kaya’s announcement, @misstangyans wrote it was “a whole new level of ewwww.”
This is just a whole new level of ewwww pic.twitter.com/8vLMxGuVEA
— arj (@misstangyans) February 2, 2019
@jibens11 wrote: “Guys, let’s sleep early on Feb. 9! Lights off at 8:30pm. As if it’s Earth Day. Thank you!”
Guys, maaga tayong matulog sa February 9! mga 8:30 pm lights off na. Earth Day ganon. Thank you!
— Habibi (@jibens11) February 2, 2019
@akavxxii complained: “This is not realistic. Why is Bong Go handsome here? He looks like your busy-body classmate who reminds your teacher about your homework?”
Hindi realistic bakit gwapo si bong go dito eh mukha syang epal na classmate na magpapaalala ng hw pag nalimutan ng teacher in person??
— akacchi 🌸 (@akavxxii) February 3, 2019
Here in the Philippines, where the lines between showbiz and politics often blur, politicians promote themselves to voters by getting their life stories turned into movies or TV specials. One of the more recent examples includes Bato: The Gen. Ronald dela Rosa Story, the biopic based on the life of Duterte’s former police chief Ronald “Bato (Rock)” dela Rosa, another candidate for senator.
But that movie became controversial when dela Rosa was called out by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) which said that he could be disqualified if the movie is shown during the campaign period, which starts on Feb. 12 and ends on May 11.
The basis for this is Republic Act 9006, or the Fair Election Act. Section 21 of the law states: “No movie, cinematograph, or documentary portraying the life or biography of a candidate shall be publicly exhibited in a theater, television station or any public forum during the campaign period.”
The movie ended up getting shown on Jan. 30, but it became the subject of netizens’ boycott, no thanks to dela Rosa’s previous involvement with the government’s bloody drug war.
It appears that Go’s team has avoided breaking the law since the Maalaala Mo Kaya episode based on his life will be aired three days before the start of the campaign period. But like dela Rosa, he won’t be getting a lot of love from netizens, judging from their reactions.
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