ABS-CBN actor Piolo Pascual revealed that he was disallowed by his superiors to endorse President Rodrigo Duterte in the 2016 presidential elections.
In an old interview with Philippine Entertainment Portal, Pascual said that he tried to meet Duterte in Davao during the campaign period several times, but he kept it private because of the rules given to him.
“Every time I would go to Davao, pinipilit kong maka-meet siya and hindi lang ako pinayagang mag-endorse [openly], pero I’ve always been for Digong.” Pascual said.
He only revealed the politician he supported after the election because of the said rules.
According to him, he’s not the only artist who’s not allowed to endorse candidates.
“It’s crucial, e, this election is crucial para sa bayan natin. And I wanna be able to use my influence para at least magamit naman natin ang tamang paraan ng pagkakampanya sa gusto natin.” he said.
“It will define the next six years of the Philippines, economy-wise, and it’s important for us to know who are we gonna vote for,” he added.
The old interview of Pascual has been recirculated on social media amid the ABS-CBN’s franchise issue.
Pascual is one of the celebrities supporting ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal and “praying everything turns out well and ok.”
In an article of getrelpundit.com, the webmaster of the said site asked if ABS-CBN is the one who disallows Pasqual from endorsing Duterte.
“Pascual stopped short of categorically stating that it was ABS-CBN or an agent of it that disallowed him from endorsing Duterte openly.” the author benign0 said.
“This leaves observers to connect the dots on their own — perhaps no-brainer connections, to be fair,” he added.
Some supporters of President Duterte accused ABS-CBN of trying to influence the 2016 elections after they allowed to air an advertisement against the former Davao City Mayor.
However, ABS-CBN insisted that they don’t have any political agenda.
Source: [1]