Quezon City Rep. Precious Hipolito Castelo slammed as ‘uncalled for’ the description made by singer and actress Regine Velasquez of Barangay Payatas, which the singer described as ‘mabaho’ (smelly) in a recent social media post.
Castelo, who represents District 2 which covers Payatas, said Velasquez is probably not updated on the currest status of Payatas.
“We do hope that Ms. Velasquez will share time to see that Payatas is not the dump site that she sees.”
“She could be misinformed that’s why she made statements that were hurtful to the decent families of the locality.”
“Payatas is no longer a garbage-smelling barangay,” the lawmaker, who is also vice chairman of the House Committee on Metro Manila, explained. “The people of Payatas are victims of social inequality, yet have chosen to break the chains of poverty by working hard, doing jobs that most people wouldn’t do. They are the reason why Payatas is not just a dumpsite anymore but a flourishing and fast rising community,” she added.
Castelo said that as a respected and a highly popular figure in the entertainment industry, Velasquez should be more careful in making claims publicly, especially as these could hurt people’s sensibilities who are all trying their best to cope with economic difficulties.
“We do hope that Ms. Velasquez will share time to see that Payatas is not the dump site that she sees, but more of a fast rising barangay with hospitable, industrious, and persevering people,” Castelo added.
In a video she posted in YouTube to promote her bag collection, Velasquez said “…MTV asked me to a documentary for street children. And I went to Payatas… kaamoy ng bag ko ‘yung Payatas…nakakatawa yun …”
“Kasi ‘pag nasa Payatas ka na, hindi mo na naman maaamoy ‘yung basura e pero kasi kayo e pare-pareho na kayo ng amoy dun …this is the bag I was wearing. So after the whole shooting akala ko nasa Payatas pa rin ako, ayun pala ‘yung bag ko yung mabaho. Mas mabaho pa siya sa Payatas,” she added in her post.
“Her (Regine’s) statements bordered on social inequality which is a complete affront to the people of Payatas whose lives we’re trying to uplift through livelihood and health programs,” Castelo said.
Although Velasquez has reportedly apologized over the matter, Castelo said, “there should be no repeat of the incident as entertainers owe a lot of their success from poor Filipinos, especially the people from Payatas, many of them are fans.”