Lawmaker Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano addressed bashers after fans of K-pop superstars BTS criticized him on social media for using the boy band for political stunt.
Cayetano is set to launch tomorrow the political bloc “BTS sa Kongreso,” a group of seven congressmen, which he said, will represent many sectors in the House of Representatives.
The bloc will be composed of Cayetano, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte, Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor, Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu, Bulacan Rep. Jose Antonio Sy-Alvarado and Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro.
“BTS sa Kongreso” didn’t sit well with BTS fans and they slammed and cursed Cayetano for using the popular K-pop group in his political agenda.
The fans trended the hashtag “#CayetanoStopUsingBTS” on Jan. 12, which became No. 1 in the Philippines on Twitter. The hashtag continued to trend until Jan. 13.
“Excuse me, Mr. Alan Peter Cayetano, I think you’re messing up with the wrong artists and company here and please stop using BTS FOR CLOUT,” one fan said.
Another wrote, “What is with the government these days? Like seriously? What kind of person would use people whom we admire for personal benefit? Please stop!! Let this end!! NOW!! #CayetanoStopUsingBTS.”
Rep. Cayetano and his wife, Rep. Lani Cayetano of Taguig, flew to Camarines Sur on Jan. 13 to give assistance to barangay health workers.
During his talk, Cayetano addressed his critics and explained “BTS sa Kongreso.”
“Bukas po may presscon kami. Para po medyo, siguro yung iba naming tao para medyo makiliti yung media, sinabi yung ano, BTS. Ang ibig sabihin po noon ‘Back To Service.’ ang ibig sabihin noon Bayanihan, Tapang at Serbisyo. Kanina dinagdagan pa ni Gov. (Francis) Bichara: Bakuna na Tamang Sistema (We will hold a presscon tomorrow. In order to titillate the media, some of our men said ‘BTS.’ This means ‘Back To Service,’ which is Bayanihan , Tapang and Serbisyo . Gov. Bichara also added a meaning: Bakuna na Tamang Sistema),” he said.
He added, “May mga fans ang BTS na nagsabing 'sir, BTS fan din kayo. Welcome.' Meron namang nagagalit. Meron namang basher lang. Dun sa naapektuhan, pasensiya na kayo. (There are fans of BTS who said, ‘sir, you are also a BTS fan. Welcome.’ But there are also those who got angry. And there are those who are mere bashers. To those who were affected, I’m sorry).”
“Dun sa basher, di naman namin kayo papansinin. Kahit ano naman ang gawin ko, kahit mag-tumbling ako dito, di naman kayo papalakpak e, di ba? At hindi ko naman hanap ang palakpak niyo. Ibash nyo na ako nang i-bash bastat maayos yung bakuna, OK sa akin. (To the bashers, we will just ignore you. No matter what I do, even if I do tumbling here, you will never applaud me, right? And I don’t need your applause. It’s OK with me even if you continue bashing me as long as our [COVID-19) vaccination is done right,” he said, referring to the government’s vaccination plan.