Angelle De Leon
The General Santos City Council has declared veteran singer Leah Navarro “persona non grata” for commenting on social media that the recent earthquakes in Mindanao were a “retribution.”
The council, in a resolution passed during its regular session on November 5, said Navarro’s “despicable behavior” insulted the sensibilities of Mindanaoans and that she “deserves no less the widest and deepest denunciation.”
It also lambasted the singer’s comment for being “un-Filipino, un-Christian, and holier-than-thou remark to the victims of [the] earthquake in Mindanao.”
The council said Navarro had no basis to accuse the people of Mindanao of having committed wrongful acts that deserve punishment, adding that the earthquake victims “have lived according to the will of the Great Almighty.”
In declaring her an “unwelcome person” in the city, the council ordered that “no permit shall be given to any person where Navarro is featured as a performer in any show, whatsoever, in General Santos.”
Navarro is a known supporter of the opposition Liberal Party.
Last October 31, lawyer Theodore Te tweeted: “What’s with all the earthquakes in Mindanao?”
Navarro then replied, saying “Retribution?”
Both tweets have since been deleted.
Navarro has already apologized for her “retribution” remark last Monday, November 4.
“I apologized, deleted my tweet. But they just can’t find in their hearts to forgive my one-word reply in the form of a question,” she said.
“Now they’ve twisted it into a declaration. Why not help Mindanao instead? Stop wasting time on me, I’m not a victim,” she added.
Te, on the other hand, said he already deleted the tweet and his reply-explanation to such tweet, which “though unintended, have caused offense, pain, and hurt to family and friends in Mindanao where I am from, proud to be from, and which I love.”
On his Twitter last November 2, Te further noted that while his tweet was “rhetorical, non-political, and personal, it invited hurtful replies from others whose tweets I cannot and do not control.”
[1/2]: I have deleted a tweet and my reply-explanation to that tweet which, though unintended, have caused offense, pain, and hurt to family and friends in Mindanao where I am from, proud to be from, and which I love. …
— Theodore Te (@TedTe) November 2, 2019
The former Supreme Court spokesman apologized for giving those people that platform.
“To family and friends from Mindanao, please be assured of my prayers for your safety,” he added.
[2/2]…though my tweet was rhetorical, non-political, and personal, it invited hurtful replies from others whose tweets I cannot and do not control. I apologize for giving them that platform. To family and friends from Mindanao, please be assured of my prayers for your safety.
— Theodore Te (@TedTe) November 2, 2019
