Award-winning director calls out Donnalyn on 'tutong' birthday cake

"Mali na ginagawang content ang kahirapan. Hindi naman aesthetics ang poverty. Walang nagsisi-celebrate na tutong ang cake. Tigilan ako Donnalyn!"

This was the statement made by award-winning film director Joselito "Jay" Altarejos on Donnalyn Bartolome's much-hyped recent birthday party in the street she grew up in. The vlog ended with Donnalyn's mom bringing her a cake made from 'tutong' or burnt rice normally found in the bottom of the cooking pot.

Altarejos' open potshot against Donnalyn only means that the controversy brought about by the vlogging star's kanto-themed birthday is far from over. Earlier, the singer made peace with Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen after he deleted his tweet on the same topic.

Altarejos said he directed Donnalyn before for a TV episode in Wattpad Presents. He revealed that he even got into a disagreement with her for refusing to do a kissing scene despite the fact that it was stated in the script previously sent to her.

The director said Donnalyn is fair game to being judged because she posted her birthday online and  she wields immense clout over her followers. Altarejos reiterated his call  for influencers like Donnalyn to choose the type of content to post and be sensitive to the predicament or social situation of other people.

"Hindi naman esthetics ang poverty, hindi choice ang poverty. Kayo ba gusto nyong magising isang araw na naghihirap kayo? Walang matinong tao na gustong maging mahirap and you just make it into a theme? Poverty is poverty, it is a social condition," Altarejos remarked while challenging Donnalyn to go to Baseco compound in Tondo, site of the infamous Smokey Mountain where the 'poorest of the poor' in Manila live.

The media were able to talk to Altarejos at the Mowelfund Institute in Quezon City, where his group 2076 Kolektib celebrated his 15 years of filmography with a free screening of some of his highly-acclaimed movies in a retrospective dubbed ALTR Heroes. 

The screened movies included Ang Lalake sa Parola (2007), Jino to Mari (2019), Walang Kasarian Ang Digmang Bayan (2021), and Memories of a Love Story, a Vivamax original film.