Solicitor General Jose Calida couldn’t hide his disappointment over the message of some ABS-CBN artist to him, including one of Kapamilya’s top-star Coco Martin.
During his speech at the House hearing on the ABS-CBN franchise on Monday, Calida reacted on the social media posts of some artists who criticized the government for the decision of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to close down the television network giant.
Calida called the actions of the artist as ‘desperation’, saying that they used their influence to gather public support for the network.
The solicitor general gave Martin a special mention and showed the statement of the latter against the critics of ABS-CBN in his presentation.
A few weeks ago, Martin has gone viral on social media after he criticized the people who supported the closure of ABS-CBN including Calida.
“Maraming maraming salamat Solicitor General Joe Calida at sa bumubuo ng National Telecommunications Commission sa kontribusyon niyo sa ating bayan! TINATARANTADO NINYO ANG MGA PILIPINO!!!” he said.
READ MORE: Coco Martin slams people behind ABS-CBN closure: “Tinatarantado ninyo ang mga Pilipino!”
Calida claimed that the viral statement of Martin during a Livestream of Kapamilya stars was addressed to him.
READ MORE: Coco Martin expresses frustration over ABS-CBN shutdown: “Anong ipapakain ko sa pamilya ko?”
According to Calida, the reaction of Martin showed the ‘lack of understanding’ in the said issue.
The Solicitor General said that if he’s not the legal defender of the country, he may give a lecture to the actor.
“If I had not been the Solicitor General, I would have called his bluff and make him eat his words,” Calida said.
“For decades now ABS-CBN has been deceiving the Filipino people. The time has come to expose ABS-CBN, whose owners and corporate officers continue to deceive the Filipino people in believing that they are “In the service of the Filipino”,” he added.
Coco Martin stopped posting lengthy social media posts to defend ABS-CBN since mother’s day on Instagram, but he’s still publishing images to support his home network.