Candy Pangilinan declared 'persona non grata' in Baguio

BAGUIO, Philippines – Comedienne and TV actress Candy Pangilinan has been declared “personal non grata" in this mountain city resort for unsavory remarks she made during last week’s celebration of Mother’s Day at a show in SM-Baguio. A resolution approved by the city council said the declaration was intended to “educate Ms. Pangilinan and others like her" who are “unmindful, insensitive, sarcastic, careless and irresponsible" in issuing such offensive remarks. The resolution was supported by a letter from Sheryl Phoebe Comiles Duque, who said she witnessed the comedienne yell during the show, “akala nyo Igorot ako, hindi ako Igorot, tao po ako! (you think I’m an Igorot, I’m not an Igorot, I’m human." When her statement was received by the audience with silence, she repeated what she said, said Duque. Upon hearing those words, Duque said she showed displeasure and confronted the production manager for the show. She also complained to the Baguio City Council. The resolution authored by Councilor Fred Bagbagen said: “It is believed that the statement of Candy Pangilinan that Igorots are not homo sapiens displays an unmitigated bigotry and her total ignorance of the ethno-linguistic groups of her native country which is discriminatory and unpatriotic and should be condemned by peace-loving Filipinos." “There are also some ignorant persons who do not know that Igorots are also made in God’s image and treat them condescendingly as second class citizens," it further stated. The resolution was approved during a special session last Friday morning called purposely for garbage matters in the city. A copy of the resolution will be furnished the Movies and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), ABS-CBN, Kapisanan ng mga Artista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (KAPP) and SM-Baguio, officials said. During the council session, there were also suggestions that shows or movies in which Pangilinan participates in, be boycotted. Although Pangilinan reportedly apologized to the audience after the show, there were those who could not be placated, some of whom posted her offending remarks online. Last Thursday, Pangilinan repeatedly apologized, explaining that the offending line was a joke that she misdelivered. In her Multiply page earlier this week, she explained that what she actually meant in the joke was “Igorot statue" but she missed the word “statue." "I am more dissapointed with myself for being so irresponsible. Even if I didn’t intend to mean it that way, I accept my mistake. No explanation would suffice now," she also wrote in her blog on May 13. Observers say it may take time for others to forgive Pangilinan, whose remarks have reopened wounds caused by the late statesman and diplomat Carlos P. Romulo when he wrote,"The Igorot is not Filipino." Following the furor sparked by his book, which were marked by protests marches in Baguio and the burning of Romulo’s effigies, he apologized and explained that what he meant was that Igorots were not Filipinos in the original sense of the term. In the 1800s, the term Filipino was said to have referred to those who surrendered their sovereignty to the Spaniards. The mountain tribes of the Cordilleras in the north, along with the Moros (Muslim Filipinos) of the south, never surrendered to the Spanish colonizers. - GMANews.TV