Filipino politicians do all sorts of crazy things to get voters’ attention. It turns out that in the age of social media, that means sitting in front of a camera and saying words like “pek pek (vagina)” and “utong (nipple).”
That’s exactly what former first daughter and current Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos did in a now-viral video posted on Tuesday. Sigh.
We swear we’re not making this up.
OK, so she didn’t exactly mean “vagina” and “nipple” when she said those words, but that’s the joke (such as it is). Let us explain.
In the “Ilocano-Fench 101” video lesson, Marcos recites Ilocano words that, when translated to Tagalog, have very different, very inappropriate meanings.
For example, pek pek in Tagalog means “vagina,” but in Ilocano pek pek or napekpek means “full.”
Utong, which means “nipple” in Tagalog, is what Ilocanos call string beans.
See what we mean?
While the video already has 390,000 views, 11,000 reactions, and more than 4,000 shares, people’s reactions on social media show that the joke did not exactly land the way Marcos wanted it to.
Over the top, trying too hard, and pointless. The attempt of #imeemarcos to appeal to the masses, whom her team thinks is #conyo and #extra. I kennat. https://t.co/qAFCU9AOIr
— Tita Franca (@datitafranca) April 19, 2018
Ukissaba! What the poque poque just happened? Buyaen yu, kaaruba! 😂
This is Imee Marcos's 1:12 video on how to lose votes without even trying. pic.twitter.com/5yjc39pBth
— Miss Maggie (@MiaMagdalena) April 19, 2018
EW IMEE MARCOS IS TRYING TO MAKE "ENGAGING" CONTENT 🤮
BISH U'LL NEVER REACH KRIS AQUINO STATUS STOP👏 TRYING 👏 pic.twitter.com/liIDEIgfsG
— Issa Villaverde 💗💜💙 (@issaberds) April 19, 2018
Funny (or maybe not). Imee Marcos trying hard to be a Kris Aquino pic.twitter.com/vvklKnVUTT
— kæ ⎕ (@ifyouseekkae) April 19, 2018
Imee Marcos while shooting that video: pic.twitter.com/pQkKMJhEyr
— Em (@emmacrellin) April 19, 2018
In February, Marcos said she might be “forced” to run for a national post (aka a Senate seat) next year because her brother Bongbong Marcos, a former senator, is still fighting for the vice president position he maintains was taken away from him by a cheating Liberal Party.
As seen in the online backlash to Marcos’ video, many remain critical of the Marcos family because of the many alleged human rights violations under the regime of their late father, dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and the ill-gotten wealth they still haven’t returned to the country.
Still, the family remains popular and influential in politics, especially in their hometown Ilocos Norte.
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