Some people actively involved in the People’s Campaign of former vice president Leni Robredo and former senator Kiko Pangilinan denied claims of a TikTok content creator who alleged he was paid to promote her.
Rolyn Jay, a “social media influencer” among those who admitted to being involved in the recent coordinated smear campaign against former beauty queen Maggie Wilson, claimed on Wednesday that he was given a “talent fee” to promote the presidential bet.
He said this in response to a user on the X (formerly Twitter) platform, who asked if Rolyn had been paid by one of Leni’s rivals in the 2022 national elections before.
The question came after Rolyn wondered why people were connecting the issue about Maggie and the presidential race last year.
An X user commented: “‘Di ka bayad ni Bongbong? Hihirit ka pa e.”
Rolyn responded by saying that he did not have projects from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who was then a candidate.
“I just used ‘yung mga Trends musics ng Editors sa [TikTok] at nakisabay. I promoted Leni on [TikTok] with a Talent Fee,” he wrote.
The insinuations of his post were denied by some people behind Leni and Kiko’s voluntary-driven People’s Campaign which relied on efforts from grassroots teams across different sectors.
“Dear @rolyn_jay2000, I served as host for 15 major and 5 [five] youth rallies across the Philippines. I went on house-to-house campaigns in LU [La Union], QC [Quezon City], Laguna, and Marikina,” Miss Trans Global 2020 Mela Habijan wrote in a repost.
“After the elections, I still volunteer to host some Angat Buhay events. ALL FOR FREE! So pls., STOP TROLLING US!” she added.
“Huy ante [ate], ako main organizer/producer ng mini rally namin dito sa San Miguel, Bulacan, AT LAHAT NG NANDITO SA POSTER WALANG TALENT FEE KAHIT PISO. JUSKO. Tapos ikaw, babayaran ng TF? Huy, gising na ante,” a licensed financial advisor wrote, sharing a poster of a Leni-Kiko campaign event.
Huy ante, ako main organizer/producer ng mini rally namin dito sa San Miguel, Bulacan, AT LAHAT NG NANDITO SA POSTER WALANG TALENT FEE KAHIT PISO. JUSKO. Tapos ikaw babayaran ng TF? Huy gising na ante. pic.twitter.com/vg1PEVBxV7
— Niño Galicia Sacdalan (@TheRealNinyoSac) September 27, 2023
Another online user claimed that she also asked some volunteers for Leni if what Rolyn said was true.
“‘Di ka daw nila kilala ehh,” the user commented.
Another Pinoy said he was “one of the hundreds of volunteers from the Advertising and Production industries” who poured efforts to support Leni and Kiko’s People’s Campaign.
“We were not paid, we didn’t even meet Leni personally. We created free content for anyone to use. Show proof that you were paid. Make sure hindi sabotage work ‘yang pinagsasabi mo,” the Pinoy said.
“We worked with artists, directors, creative copy writers, composers music producers, broadcast producers, etc — lahat walang bayad. Tapos, Ikaw Meron?!” he exclaimed.
Another Pinoy said that he “did not spend countless hours mapping the people’s campaign” for Rolyn to “pretend” the latter received a “talent fee.”
“Hindi talent ang pagiging bayaran, mind you,” the online user said.
“The audacity of this person to tarnish the genuine volunteerism that the Robredo campaign inspired triggered me. Kapag nahuli na, umamin na. Dami pang satsat,” the user added.
“I made a song for Leni. Released it on streaming platforms. Performed at one rally… Wala po ‘yung Talent Fee,” singer Fearcyz Ballaran wrote.
“Pangarap na good governance tsaka magandang kinabukasan lang naging bayad nun,” she added.
“Sis wait, I did some palengke runs and house to house for free and abonado pa,” wrote another user in response to Rolyn.
“Pero ikaw, bayad? How come? Eh hindi ka naman ganon ka-powerful na social media personality. As a kakampink, we don’t even know you,” the user added.
Another Pinoy “fixed” Rolyn’s claim by saying that the latter “promoted to destroy Leni on TikTok with a talent fee” instead.
Maggie recently exposed TikTok content creators who were paid P8,000 each to speak against her and her company ACASA Manila.
Some have already apologized to the former beauty queen, including Rolyn.
Maggie claimed that entrepreneur Rachel Carrasco, the current partner of her estranged husband Victor Consunji, was the one who sent the screenshots used in the videos for the smear campaign.
Rachel has not yet addressed the accusations against her.
READ: Maggie Wilson mulls legal action vs online users involved in smear campaign
