A viral video wherein several senators and President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. were seen partying was actually a "party with a cause".
This was according to the office of Senator Sonny Angara, which said that the event was done in celebration for Angara's 50th birthday and raised a total of P3 million for the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) Medical Foundation.
Denn Legaspi, Angara's communications chief, said the party had a noble cause as "in lieu of gifts," they "exhorted" the guests to instead donate to PGH.
"Yearly po tuwing birthday ni Sen. nagdodonate talaga sya dyan (Yearly, whenever Sen. Angara celebrates his birthday, he donates to foundations)," Legaspi told reporters.
He was reacting to a viral video where senators, including Angara, and President Marcos were belting out the song "You've lost that lovin' feelin.'"
Other senators seen in the video were Senate President Migz Zubiri, JV Ejercito, Mark Villar, Bong Revilla, Jinggoy Estrada, Bato Dela Rosa, Win Gatchalian, and Bong Go.
Some social media users called out the government officials for "partying" amid the high inflation rate and the recent flooding—a perennial problem—that submerged parts of Metro Manila just a few days ago.
In an Instagram post, Angara thanked his family for throwing him a party "with musical numbers from family and friends".
He also thanked his fellow lawmakers "for their impromptu song number" and said being surprised by the President’s participation.
"Best part of the night is that we raised over P3 million for the PGHFoundation — our chosen beneficiary in lieu of gifts," Angara said.