The Department of Interior and Local Government should just forget about the two Cavite village officials who were caught in a scandalous act during a Zoom call, Governor Jonvic Remulla said in a televised interview today.
Most Filipinos were amused yesterday upon learning that a village captain named Jesus Estil was seen having sex with his staff during a web conference with other Dasmariñas City officials last week. The married Estil was supposed to discuss his pandemic plans with his colleagues, but he mistakenly broadcast his affair with his treasurer, which transpired right inside their office.
Read: Zoom Meeting Gone Wrong: Captain and staff resign after caught having sex during call
Copies of the footage were sent to the media and quickly became viral, enraging elderly residents who urged Estil to vacate his position. The association of village captains yesterday said that Estil and his staff have resigned, and apologized on behalf of the disgraced politico. But things didn’t end there: Interior Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya declared that he would have Estil investigated.
Remulla appeared to have known what went down on that controversial Zoom call.
“There were 500 participants in it and they were all giving updates on the COVID situation. Apparently the village captain is not very familiar with technology and how to use it and he chose to engage in a dalliance with his village secretary (treasurer) thinking that when you mute it, that the video would be off also,” the governor explained during an interview with cable channel ANC..
“He didn’t know any better; what they did was inexcusable but it was largely [caused by] ignorance of the [correct] use of technology which led to all of this,” Remulla explained.
The governor urged Malaya to just let the incident pass, given that Estil has already left his position.
“What is there to investigate? What is there to prosecute? It was an act of two consenting adults although they were both married and it was not a proper relationship. There is nothing more to investigate. They resigned,” he said.
The very understanding Remulla said he was concerned about “the mental health and well-being” of Estil, who has become the butt of jokes.
“He was suicidal last week. It’s a good thing that the other village captains were very encouraging of him. I hope he is [feeling] better,” he said.
