Filipino broadway superstar Lea Salonga was trending on social media after she aired her frustrations on the current situation in the Philippines.
“Dear Pilipinas, [expletive], ang hirap mong mahalin (Dear Philippines, you are difficult to love),” she said in a Facebook post yesterday.
Salonga is among the Filipino celebrities who are very vocal about their opinions and views when it comes to social issues.
The 49-year-old singer-actress did not elaborate on what the post was all about, nor did the icon also reply to people who were asking what she meant with her post.
However, Salonga had earlier commented on the constitutional reforms advocate Orion Perez’s Facebook post that said: “Sobrang bulok ng sistema ng gobyerno sa bansa (the Philippines has a rotten system of governance).” Perez stated that it’s about time for reform based on international best practices.
Salonga replied to the post saying: “Here’s my problem…I don’t possess a lot of trust in the things I see and read, even if and when the sources are supposed to be those in which we should be able to have unquestionable trust. Second, I house a conspiracy theorist in my head, one that I do try to quell in order to stay focused on the long game. Third, there is always a sense of fear that if anyone pisses off the wrong guy, one can get shot in broad daylight [sic].”
She added: “Criticism of one’s government shouldn’t be considered an expression of hatred, but one of love and desire to see the country succeed. I would like to think that in a functioning democracy, this should never be anyone’s fear, that their criticism would land them in jail, or worse, a corpse lying on a curb.”
Fans came out to support the star and her stance, with the hashtag #IStandWithLeaSalonga soon trending online and topping the Twitter charts.
In a separate Facebook post, Salonga also talked about the rape culture following a controversial advice given in the Quezon province police station in the Philippines for women to dress appropriately to avoid sexual assault.
She posted: “Rape jokes? Not funny. And no, what a woman wears should never be a reason for her being raped. And, as has been pointed out, it really doesn’t matter what a woman wears. If a rapist wants to do the deed, he will. The onus of rape should solely be on the shoulders of the rapist. What a woman happened to be wearing is immaterial. Men, you can always do and be better. And to the adults, we need to raise better men.”
