Acclaimed filmmaker Erik Matti didn’t mince words in criticizing Toni Gonzaga’s support of Bongbong Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos who has been accused of martial law atrocities.
Direk Erik began his lengthy Instagram post by saying ‘everyone has a right to their own political stances’.
He then proceeded to compare the atrocities of Hitler during the Nazi regime to the ‘plunder and the horrors of the Marcos regime to our country’ that according to the director, ‘no one has claimed responsibility until now with the players still roaming around free, moneyed and powerful’.
Matti said the victims of both the Holocaust and the martial law were real people, and that no one can ever say they didn’t exist.
Arrogant and obnoxious
Matti then expressed his disappointment with those who chose to ignore these facts.
“I cannot fathom anyone, who have access to the same historical facts from our books and Youtube like everyone else, can still have the gall to hold their head so high to the point of being so arrogant and obnoxious to brush away critics and dissenters even acknowledging and flaunting it with such an insensitive hashtag,” he said.
The multi-awarded director said giving support to any political candidate, whether by affinity or any other reason, is between that person and his or her conscience.
“You can do whatever you want with your celebrity power and God’s guidance because this is a free world, after all,” Matti wrote; apparently referring to celebrities endorsing politicians.
“But to be brazen, arrogant and snooty makes all of it despicable, disgusting and really crude,” he added.
While Matti did not mention Toni Gonzaga’s name in his post, it was accompanied with a screenshot of the PBB host’s IG story captioned ‘UNBOTHERED’.
Gonzaga was heavily criticized on social media after lending her star power to Marcos-Duterte’s UniTeam as the host of its proclamation rally.
Netizens were further irked after she introduced onstage Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, one of the congressmen who was primarily instrumental in the junking of the congressional franchise of ABS-CBN, her home network for several years.
On Wednesday, Gonzaga confirmed she has resigned from PBB after hosting the reality show for 16 years.