Senator Imee Marcos was criticized over the weekend for posting a video where she allegedly mocked those who work for 18 hours a day.
In a supposedly satirical video posted Friday on her Facebook page titled "Pagod Len-Len," Marcos appeared with two other actors questioning the possibility of purely working in a day.
"Eighteen hours, totoo ba yun? (18 hours of working, is that even true?)" the lawmaker asked after her fellow actresses said a fictional character referring to Len-Len fainted after working for 18 hours.
"Di naman ako makapaniwala niyan. Pwede kang kumain habang nagtatrabaho, pero (I can’t believe that. You can work while eating, but) the rest of the work, you have to focus!" she added.
In the caption of the video, which has already garnered at least four million views as of this posting, Marcos even cited an editorial piece stating: "Anyone who claims to work 18 hours a day is either lying or stupid."
Several social media users were not pleased with her dialogue. They criticised her video and alleged that she was mocking the plight of those who toil for extended hours everyday.
"It's a big insult to those people who work harder because of the poverty, 18 hours may be a kind of jokes for someone who earned enough money on beshort time, but in the reality there are still a lot of people who work almost 24 hours just to feed and give enough needs for their family," said Joaquin Angelo Ibañez Flancia in the video's comments section.
"This is a slap to all healthcare workers. Nurses work overtime to cover shifts especially if their teammates get sick. Doctors especially the residents go on 24 hrs duty + post duty of 8 hrs... When the pandemic started, doctors go to perpetual duty," Mitchie Gonzales-Montalbo added.
For Faye Rab, Marcos's remarks are "unbelievable". She said it is "disgusting for a senator to mock public servants who actually do their jobs, and for mocking filipinos who work hard".
Manila Bulletin sought Marcos's comment through her media officer. They have yet to respond.
In the recent The Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews, presidential candidate Vice President Leni Robredo said she typically works 18 hours a day.
"Ako siguro on the average mga 18 hours. 18 hours a day. Kasi on the average mga anim na oras ‘yung tulog ko (Perhaps, I'm working on average 18 hours per day. Because on average, I just sleep for six hours)," Robredo said.
Recently, the camp of presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., Senator Marcos’s sister, said they will not engage in "negative campaigning" amid criticisms hurled at him. Marcos Jr. has neither directly engaged in any malicious campaigning nor made any negative remarks since the official campaign period kicked off.
The lawmaker described the video as "not a political content".