The “Welcome to the Philippines, Province of China” tarpaulins hung around Metro Manila gained different reactions from the netizens, and some critics blamed the government for putting the tarps.
Several tarps have been placed along Metro Manila at the exact day of the second anniversary of the international tribunal ruling favoring the Philippines’ claims over the South China Sea.
Several hours after the news erupted, a concerned netizen, Jeremy Salomon, volunteered to remove one of the tarps placed along D. Tuazon in Quezon City and narrated on Facebook what happened during that time.
Photo: Jeremy Salomon/Facebook
According to his post, while he’s trying to remove the tarp, a journalist who is in position several distances along the tarpaulin approached him and interviewed.
Salomon was asked by the journalist why he was so brave in removing the tarp, citing that the banner was already hung in the pedestrian overpass since midnight.
Members of the media positioned several distances from the tarp Photo: Jeremy Salomon/Facebook
In response, Salomon said that the people who put the tarp should ask themselves if what they committed is right. According to the netizen, he has the right to remove the things that give wrong information to the public.
When Salomon also believes that the people who hung the controversial tarps are the “media” and “activists” who wanted to destroy the image of President Rodrigo Duterte.
He also dared the people who put the tarpaulin that he’s gonna pay all their expenses if they’re going to confront him for removing their banner.
You can read his whole post below:
“Ang sabi ko kay Kuya Inquirer…
Reporter:”Madaling araw pa may naglagay dito sa poster na ito? Bakit naglakas loob ka tanggalin?
Me”..Ako ay ordinaryong Filipino kung sino man naglagay nito ay tanungin ang sarili? Tama ba ito?.. Kung may karapatan ka maglagay ng poster pero “Maling” impormasyon, may karapatan din ako “i-Tama” ang mali.. Kung ilagay mo I love Philippines, sa tingin mo tatangalin ko??”
Reporter:”..Sino sa paningin ko ang naglagay??..”
Me:”..Who cares? Kung alam ko na mali ay basta gagawin ko ang tama.. At tingin ko kagagawan ng fake media at mga aktibista.. Kung may nagastos ka sa paglagay mo ay hanapin ako at babayaran ko pagawa mo.”
The post of Salomon received thousands of likes and shares from the netizens. He also received praise for his bravery to remove the tarps.
Because of the post of Salomon, some netizen suspected that the media were the one who placed the tarps along Metro Manila to create another issue against the government.
Journalist Malou Tiquia also said in her Facebook post that there’s a big possibility that the people behind the controversial tarp are the members of the opposition who wanted to grab the power of Duterte.
As of writing, Malacanang is not yet giving any comment on the Welcome China tarps.
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Source: Jeremy Salomon