Gab Valenciano receives flak over questions on Mayor Duterte’s morality

MANILA – Several celebrities and netizens slammed Gab Valenciano for questioning the morality of Mayor Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte, who has filed candidacy for president in the coming national elections – spurring debate whether a leader like him was the right person for the country’s highest office.

In an open letter posted on Facebook, Valenciano criticized Duterte. The public was then quick to react to the said post, telling him to first look at his shortcomings before shunning others.

In response to Valenciano’s open letter, a netizen who remained anonymous replied with a lengthy post detailing that the musician-performer’s father, Gary Valenciano, was also a womanizer.

“Your own father had a girlfriend and at 19 years of age, he got another girl pregnant whilst still in another relationship. That other girl is your mom. His girlfriend was Felichi Pangilinan, your mom’s younger sister. So stop talking about womanizing, values, morality, and loyalty when your own parents did not exactly do the right thing either,” the post read.

The netizen then asked Valenciano why he doesn’t ‘condemn’ the mistakes of his parents when he was a child born out of discretion and wedlock. The anonymous sender, however, claimed that he was not a supporter of Duterte.

“This is not about politics. Don’t tackle an issue that once hounded your own family. Yours is not perfect either. By the way, I like Gary V because he is a good singer and not because he was a womanizer. A lot of people support and admire Gary because of his talent. They did not judge his faults,” the post further read, advising the singer-performer to watch a show of the 700 Club Asia for him to know the whole story and testimonies.

Aside from several netizens, celebrities also retaliated to Valenciano’s open letter, including singer Mocha Uson of the all-girl group Mocha Girls whose members have expressed support towards the PDP-Laban presidential candidate.

“Moralist or President? Many anti-Duterte focus on the issue of morality. But the real question is – do we need a good role model or a capable President? Simple lang naman po ito ([My point] is simple), our country is so sick and we need a good doctor to help us. And here come the moralists questioning… righteousness and morality?” her post read.

Mocha then pointed out that just like how a doctor’s experience and capability to treat illness and disease were more important than his righteousness, so was that of a leader’s. She also argued that if morality was the basis of choosing the next ruler of the country, then the people should vote the priests and religious people instead.

“Now how do you catch drug pushers? How do you pursue corrupt policemen and politicians? How do you put an end to the laglag-bala (bullet-planting) syndicate? Call the priests? Morality should not be the deciding factor in choosing our next president,” her post continued.

Valenciano, for his part, was saddened with how the public reacted on his opinion and feared even more on how Filipinos stood culturally, socially, spiritually and mentally. He did, however, commend netizens who gave valid arguments and were for the advancement of the country.