Comedienne Ai Ai Delas Alas condemned the recent Quezon City council resolution declaring her and director Darryl Yap as persona non grata.
Ai Ai and Yap made fun of re-elected mayor Joy Belmonte with an image of a defaced city logo in a campaign video.
The actress’ lawyer Charo Rejuso-Munsayac said in a statement that the resolution is a form of “cancellation” that will discourage artists to take on similar works in the future.
“We strongly condemn this act of the Quezon City council which endangers the protection granted by the freedom of expression for artists, entertainers, content creators, and comedians who use satire or parody to express sentiments or criticize public acts or figures,” De las Alas said in a statement.
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“They think they can post anything all in the name of freedom of expression? Let us draw the line. It is unacceptable to bastardize our seal. We don’t want to normalize yang pagiging bastos,” Councilor Ivy Lagman told ABS-CBN News.
“The video which circulated during the campaign period is clearly a satire, a parody. It is not intended to be a statement of fact and is clearly not meant to be taken seriously by the audience. The video was obviously intended to be watched and taken as a whole, all elements being fictitious, including the seal behind the character portrayed by my client,” the lawyer of Ai Ai said.
“As public officers, the members of the Quezon City council should be more prudent and circumspect in the exercise of their discretion and should not take hasty actions which could adversely affect my client and cause undue anxiety to her family and friends,” the statement added.
