While Vico Sotto is receiving admiration and love from netizens on social media, a radio host expressed displeasure over the media mileage being received by the Pasig City Mayor.
In a series of Facebook posts, Mark Lopez criticized Sotto and accused him of relying on public relations, mainstream media and trolls to gain popularity.
Lopez then called Sotto as the Mayor of media and not by Pasig City.
“Hindi naman Mayor ng Pasig yan eh…Mayor yan ng media… Maglolokohan pa ba tayo?” Lopez said.
“Hindi nyo na maloloko ang Pilipino. Yang trending ng Mayor nyo sa twitter? Paid media plan yan, pareho ng kay Leni,” he added.
Sotto became trending on Twitter yesterday after several bloggers questioned the sincerity of the Pasig City Mayor.
They also criticized Sotto for allowing the operation of tricycles in Pasig City despite the mass transportation suspension ordered by the national government.
The radio host’s post has gone viral on the internet and hundreds of Sotto’s supporters swarmed the comment section of Lopez’s Facebook account to criticize him.
However, Lopez accused his critics as trolls and asked the ‘PR handler’ of Sotto to hire people who legitimately living in Pasig City.
“Yung PR Handler nung Pasig Mayor, gumamit kayo totoong tao na taga Pasig kung aatake kayo sa social media, hindi mga anonymous trolls,” he said.
Lopez then questioned why Sotto was receiving too much exposure while the other Mayors who are also working hard in their respective places are not getting noticed.
“Sa Cainta nga at Marikina, ang ayos ng patakbo, at mga constituents nila talaga ang nagsasabi… Walang pa epek sa media at hindi kailangan ng trending sa twitter para mambola… There is a big difference between authentic public service versus hype and hollow rhetoric. And kitang kita naman yan.” he said.
Lopez then mentioned that he also criticized the Mayor of Las Pinas yesterday and even urged the government to file charges against her but no one criticized him on social media.
Another netizen, Krizette Laureta Chu also complained about the “anonymous trolls” who swarmed her Facebook comment section.
According to Chu, she didn’t say anything bad against Sotto, but the Mayor’s supporters became too defensive to their idol.
Because of the incident, she suspected that someone is grooming Sotto to take a higher position in the government.
“I didn’t even say anything bad about Vico Sotto, I just said he’s doing well but should stop asking for exemptions re tricycle because doctors and other people understand it’s too small to practice social distancing (passenger and driver) plus hard to disinfect it since virus known to stay in surfaces for long time,” Chu said.
“Is he the LP flag bearer for 2022 or something? Is he being groomed to take on a bigger seat that you can’t call him out? Does he have a crisis control/PR MACHINERY team? Kumalma nga kayo, at unahin muna ang 2020. Wala naman akong sinasabing nakakaloka against your mayor. Kahit basahin nyo lahat ng feed ko. Sabi Lang mali yung May pa tricycle. ANG OA HA,” she added.
“Halos murahin namin si Mel Aguilar ng Las Pinas wala namang ganitong trolls. Si Joy Belmonte nga halos madurog na on soc med. Pero one gentle reminder to Vico and trolls descend? WHY?! Seriously why is Vico untouchable all of a sudden? Natalo tuloy ang PR machinery ni Yorme sa rabidness ng trolls who defend Vico,” she also said.
While the critics of Sotto accused the Mayor of using trolls, the leader of Pasig also said that he’s being swarmed by trolls, but no time to respond to them.
“Wala po kaming panahon makipag laban sa mga trolls at paninira. Lahat na lang gusto nilang gawin politika,” Sotto said.
“Alam nyo naman po wala ako troll farm. Kayo na po bahalang tulungan ang pasig para di mabahala/malito ang mga pasigueño sa mga trolls. SALAMAT PO.” he added.