Cebuano vlogger Boy Tapang, real name Ronnie Suan, issued a public apology on his Facebook page for a controversial stunt involving a kite made of P1,000 bills totaling P1 million.
The video, which has since been deleted, sparked criticism from netizens when it was posted earlier this month. In the footage, Boy Tapang displayed a 15-meter kite constructed from 1000 peso bills, claiming it was crafted by a professional kite-maker and took five hours to assemble.
During the video, he jokingly remarked, “I hope the string doesn’t break, or else it’s a waste of 1 million.”
However, the stunt went awry as the kite failed to fly on its first attempt, and subsequent tries resulted in bills falling off and the cord breaking. Despite these setbacks, they managed to retrieve the kite from a nearby farm.
The video quickly went viral and gained at least 7 million views. Netizens expressed outrage, with one commenting, “Ouch, kami halos ma-heatstroke na sa pagpapainit sa construction. Kayo palaro laro lang ng pera.” (We toil and almost suffer heat stroke to earn money, while you play around with it.)
In his apology posted on April 13, Boy Tapang disclosed that representatives from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) had reached out to discuss the incident. He clarified that he did not intend to disrespect the value of the money, emphasizing his past struggles with poverty.
He explained that the video was created for entertainment purposes only and admitted it would have been more appropriate to use alternative materials instead of real currency.
Boy Tapang urged those who reposted the video to remove it and expressed gratitude for understanding, particularly to BSP and his viewers.
Under Presidential Decree No. 247, enacted in July 1973, defacing or mishandling Philippine currency is prohibited. Offenders could face fines up to P20,000 or imprisonment for up to 5 years.
