Actress and philanthropist Angel Locsin said that the government should have been more considerate on the ABS-CBN franchise at a time when the country is reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Sa panahon na kailangan ng hanapbuhay ng mga tao. Let’s be considerate and ask ourselves kung makakatulong ba ang mga desisyon natin lalo na sa panahong ito,” Locsin said.
The actress, in a separate post on her Instagram stories, also vowed to support to her home network’s fight to bring it back on air.
“I grieve the (temporary) death of my home station, but it won’t keep me joining the fight,” she wrote.
Locsin was among the Filipino celebrities who expressed on social media their dismay on the cease and desist order of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to the giant media network on May 5.
In a tweet, the actress also threw shade to those who rejoice over ABS-CBN’s shutdown.
She wrote: “Sa lahat ng nagmamagaling at nagsasabi na ‘buti nga nagsara ang ABS’, sana masarap ang tulog ninyo ngayon gabi at nakapagbayad na ng bills. Sana rin masarap rin ang mga napamalengke ninyo na ipapakain sa inyong pamilya. Sana walang magkasakit na kailangan ipagamot at gastusan.”
Sa lahat ng nagmamagaling at nagsasabi na “buti nga nagsara ang ABS”, sana masarap ang tulog ninyo ngayon gabi at nakapagbayad na ng bills. Sana rin masarap rin ang mga napamalengke ninyo na ipapakain sa inyong pamilya. Sana walang magkasakit na kailangan ipagamot at gastusan.
— Angel Locsin (@143redangel) May 5, 2020
Meanwhile, her fiance Neil Arce said he has “shown support to a lot of decisions and actions this government has made but what happened today was not right.”
“During this time of sickness and hunger,” Arce added, “politics should be set aside.”
“Now is not the right time to take away jobs,” he said in an Instagram post.
He also explained that Losin did not renew her contract with ABS-CBN, “so technically she did not lose her job.” However, he said it “breaks my heart seeing her like this.”
“She’s been crying non stop since she saw the News online because she knows 11,000 people lost their jobs. We’ve been under ECQ for 2 months now trying to save lives.
“Wala pang 10,000 ang may covid dito pero ngayon 11,000 na tao ang mawawalan ng trabaho at milyong milyon na Pilipino ang hindi makakatanggap ng quick information and konting kaligayahan sa mga panahon na ito,” Arce said.
