An old Facebook post of a headphones repair store that has political reference once again gained traction after receiving recent inquiries and comments from Filipinos.
Koast Studio in October 2021 promoted its services by using some of the former health secretary’s impassioned spiels during a congressional hearing.
“𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗔𝗞 𝗡𝗬𝗢 𝗡𝗔 𝗞𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗜𝗜!!?!?” it wrote with emojis of a hot face, sneezing face, woozy face and melting face before.
“Luma ‘yung, referece, oo, yes, tama pero ‘yung earphone mo gawin nating parang bago,” the store added.
It then listed why the public should have their earphones repaired, adding that its services include enhancing the accessory and “upgrading the durability.”
“‘Wag ka na mag-HM [how much] [diyan], nakasulat na. PM mo na lang kami, masarap kami kausap,” the store said.
The post, which is currently pinned on the store’s Facebook page, has earned 27,000 likes and “love” reactions, 2,500 shares and 4,500 comments so far.
“Katatanggap ko lang nitong akin at hindi ako binigo ng serbisyong ipinangako. Swabe ang transaksiyon, makikita sa ipinaayos mong hindi ka tinipid, at naibalik ang kalidad ng tunog. Sulit ang bayad. Katiwa-tiwala. Highly recommended! Thank you, Koast Audio,” a Facebook user wrote last January.
“Thank you. Super legit. Gumanda beat ng earphone ko. Magagamit na ulit,” another online user said in the comments last August.
“Magkano po?” a different Pinoy asked last September.
“JayBird Bluebuds x kaya ba, control and battery issue,” inquired another Facebook user last September.
“How much to fix MSI gaming headphones,” wrote a different Pinoy last Sunday.
Duque’s impassioned spiel
The first lines of the post were lifted from former health secretary Francisco Duque‘s emotional remarks to Commission on Audit Chairperson Michael Aguinaldo during a hearing by the House Committee on Public Accounts in August 2021.
At that time, Duque’s department was flagged for unutilized COVID-19 pandemic funds, procurement deficiencies and unauthorized grant of meal allowances.
The deficiencies stood at P66.28 billion but further auditing reveals “P1.036 billion more of that,” making it a total of P67.32 billion, according to Philstar.com.
The funds were supposed to boost the country’s healthcare system and address the ongoing public health crisis which was especially upending lives in its first year.
In addressing COA’s findings, Duque got emotional and accused the state auditing body of supposedly ruining the health agency’s reputation.
“Winarak na ninyo kami, eh! Winarak na ninyo ang dangal ng DOH! Winarak ninyo ang lahat ng mga kasama dito! Hindi kami makaharap sa mga tao dahil lahat ang dami-daming sinasabi, ang dami-daming paratang. Wala pa rin akong tulog! Ilang gabi na po ito,” he said.
“Masakit po talaga sa amin ito dahil kami ho ang pangunahing ahensya na humaharap, tumutugon sa panahon na ito. Sabi ko nga sa inyo, nagkasakit na ang mga tao ko, nag-isolate, nag-quarantine, may namatay na, pero por Diyos por Santo, maawa naman kayo, kayo nga ang pumunta dito at kayo ang gumawa?” Duque added.
He also argued that the COA did not accept explanations that the DOH submitted.
The state auditing body flagged the health agency anew last August, saying that the latter failed to legally spend over P6.6 billion COVID-19 funds for 2021.
Acting health secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire responded that they are “attending to it” and making verifications for an appropriate response.
“We really went down to our local governments, our regional offices in order to see what really happened. We conducted wall-to-wall inventories,” she said, stressing the DOH’s desire to know where the COA data came from.
