Vice President Leni Robredo said that Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magalong need not apologize after her youngest daughter, Jillian, was heckled at the Baguio City Public Market while campaigning with a group of volunteers.
An unidentified person yelled at Jillian and her group, complaining that they were blocking market-goers. Spliced clips made the rounds on social media, making it seem as though the heckler had been provoked by Jillian and said that the latter had acted rudely — a narrative that the heckler stood by in a video about the incident.
However, the group Youth for Leni Baguio-Benguet posted the entire video of the exchange, showing that the heckler had yelled at the vice president’s daughter unprovoked, even passing by her group before returning a few minutes to shout, “Grabe naman kayo, sinasarahan ang daanan, public market ito. Dayuhan ka lang dito, Igorot kami.” (The nerve of your group to block the way, this is a public market. We are Igorots, you are not from here.)
“Baguio folks, regardless of ethnic roots, are generally friendly, ever-smiling, and hospitable to visitors and guests. This is why it is with deep regrets that the city officialdom extends sincere apology to Ms. Jillian Robredo, daughter of our esteemed Vice President and presidential candidate Leni Robredo, over the unfortunate heckling incident at our public market, while visiting the place,” Magalong wrote on social media.
“Rudeness has never been a standard conduct of Baguio folks. We can assure Ms. Robredo that such a physical outburst by that person is not representative of Baguio’s legendary hospitable conduct, especially to visitors and guests. As a favorite tourist destination, our citizens are by and large amiable, warm, and sincere in their ways,” the mayor also said, adding that he hoped Jillian and her team of supporters would regard the incident as an isolated case.
Yet the vice president said that there was no need for the mayor to say sorry.
“Thank you very much, Mayor Benjie, but there is no need to apologize. This unfortunate incident does not diminish our love and respect for the people of Baguio,” Robredo wrote on Twitter.
