On Sunday, April 10, comedian-director John Lapus did not mince words after senatorial aspirant Rodante Marcoleta considered “collateral damage” the thousands of employees laid off due to ABS-CBN’s shut down.
“Alam niyo po, collateral damage lang ang nangyari. Hindi po 11,000. Halos 2,000 lang. ‘Yung 9,000 ay hindi regular employees, contract workers, program workers na kung titingnan niyo wala ring security of tenure,” Marcoleta said during CNN Senatorial Forum.
Among those who lost their job was Lapus who cursed at the senatorial candidate for undermining the thousands of jobless at the height of the pandemic.
“Gago! Kasama ako doon. May trabaho kami bago nyo tinarantado ang abs-cbn. Demonyo! Tenurin mo mukha mong bukbokin,” he snarked.
https://twitter.com/KorekKaJohn/status/1513194232403873793
Marcoleta, on the other hand, was proud of his “achievement.”
He now claims that he was the one who closed the Kapamilya Network “for the people.”
“Pinakamalaking network sa ating bansa, makapangyarihan. Kaya niyang ibagsak pati political career ng isang kandidato.
“Hindi po tayo natakot. Isinara ko po ang ABS-CBN dahil sa inyo. Ngayon pa ba ako matatakot? Kasama ko na si Bongbong Marcos. Ngayon pa ba ako matatakot? Kasama ko na si Inday Duterte,” he boasted during a UniTeam sortie in General Santos City.
A current congressman vying for a seat in the Senate, he was among the 70 representatives who voted to reject the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN.
Meanwhile, Lapus also castigated Rep. Camille Villar, who helped seal the broadcasting station’s fate.
Her father, business mogul Manny Villar, now owns ABS-CBN’s former channels, 2 and 16, after the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) awarded them to his Advanced Media Broadcasting System (AMBS).
“Grabe tapos nasa kanila na ngayon,” tweeted Lapus on April 7.
