A televised interview aired a video of a former “Pinoy Big Brother” host while the interviewee was asking about “has-been” celebrities who are campaigning for candidates.
In an episode of ANC’s “After the Fact” on Wednesday, broadcast journalist Ian Esguerra and campaign strategist Alan German discussed instances of outdated celebrities joining campaign sorties of candidates.
“One man’s has-been is another man’s gold, I suppose,” the strategist said.
German said that “not-so-popular celebrities and endorsers have a great value outside of NCR (National Capital Region) and especially in sorties.”
“While they may not be popular still in the mainstream, they are still what we call draw multipliers… when they attend an event, pinupuntahan pa rin sila ng mga tao, especially in the provinces,” he added.
While German was speaking, a video of actress-host Toni Gonzaga was played side-by-side with the interviewee.
“And tama ka… maraming career ang nabubuhay tuwing election. ‘Yung mga ‘Uy, anong nangyari diyan?’ Biglang nakita mo na lang ulit. It does happen frequently. In fact, as a norm,” German said.
The usage of Gonzaga’s video was noticed by some viewers who shared their observations on Reddit and Twitter.
“Christian asking about has-beens/laos celebrities while showing Toni Gonzaga clips,” a Reddit user said.
“Like before, they ensured Toni Gonzaga’s screen space was bigger than the guest’s. Savage as usual,” the uploader added in the comments.
“ANC chose violence. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Hahahahaha,” another Reddit user commented, quoting German in the interview.
“‘Has-beens’ tapos si two knee ‘yong nasa clip (face-with-hand-over-mouth emoji). Na-observe ko lang naman,” a Filipino in Twitter commented, referring to Toni.
“Bakit si Toni???” another online user said with laughing-with-tears emojis.
A shade?
When reality TV show “Pinoy Big Brother” aired an eviction episode last month, viewers noticed that the program opened using the media network’s theme song instead of its usual theme song, “Pinoy Tayo.”
The camera also featured a close-up shot of a structure listing ABS-CBN’s corporate values such as honesty, integrity and respect with the words “The Kapamilya Way.”
Some Filipinos perceived the changes as a deliberate way of the network making a stand following Toni’s exit as one of its hosts for the past 16 years.
A microcinema also posted a screengrab from a movie that starred the actress-host after her appearance in the proclamation rally of presidential bet Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his running mate, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
It featured a scene of Iza Calzado‘s character in “Starting Over Again,” Patty, talking to Ginny, Toni’s character.
“Ang lungkot-lungkot siguro talaga ng buhay mo,” Patty said in the film. Ginny could be seen crying.
Some Filipinos perceived this as a “shade” to Toni who, during the rally, introduced Rep. Rodante Marcoleta (SAGIP party-list) as part of the UniTeam’s senatorial slate, one of the lawmakers who denied the renewal of the ABS-CBN franchise.
UniTeam refers to the political alliance of Marcos and Duterte-Carpio.
In 2020, Toni appeared on Edu Manzano‘s online program where she said that she is no longer affected by how people view her.
“I’ve reached a point in my life where I realized that other people’s perception of me is not my responsibility anymore. Na parang ‘pag sinabi sa akin ng isang tao na one plus one equals 10, I’ll just tell that person, ‘Yes you’re correct, you’re right,'” she said.
“Para whatever judgment or assumption they have of me, I feel like I don’t have anymore, the need to explain, to prove, to defend and to hide. Because I have nothing to hide, I have nothing to defend, I have nothing to prove, I have nothing to explain to anybody because I know who I am deep inside,” Toni added.
Alex, Toni’s younger sister, recently said that the latter has always been “stronger and more independent,” and “equipped” to handle bashing.
“Knowing my sister, I know she’s a strong person and I know na hindi siya dadalhin ni Lord doon nang hindi siya ready. My sister was bashed even before noong bata pa,” Alex said.
“Matapang ang ate ko, she’s born for this,” she added.
