SENATOR Robin Padilla came to the defense of former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon after a video of her shouting inside a Makati mall went viral on social media.
In a Facebook post, Padilla said Guanzon was simply standing up for the rights of Filipinos after she was allegedly embarrassed by a Chinese national.
“Walang sinuman na dayuhan ang maaaring magpalabas sa kahit sinong Pilipino sa kahit saang lugar sa sarili niyang bansa, may ubo man o wala,” Padilla said.
He added that the foreigner should even be “thankful” he was not mobbed for confronting a Filipino senior citizen.
“Pambihira din ang mga troll ano… ito ngayon nagmalabis ang isang Tsino sa isang Filipino senior citizen sa loob na mismo ng teritoryo ng Pilipinas, ang ibabash ninyo ‘yung Filipino senior citizen dahil lumaban. My goodness… sa sobrang talino naging tanga na!” he said.
In her own Facebook post, Guanzon recounted that the incident began when a Chinese national told her to leave the mall after she coughed.
“Sabihan ba naman niya ako sa Rockwell mall na, ‘You’re coughing, you should leave the mall, you should stay at home.’ Doon ‘yun nagsimula,” she said.
Guanzon added that she felt humiliated when the man questioned whether she could afford a mask.
“Napahiya talaga ako doon… Sabihan ka ba naman, ‘Don’t you have money to buy a mask?’ Bawal pala sa kanya kahit umubo ka lang minsan,” she wrote.
Guanzon said she later filed a complaint with the Makati police against the foreigner.
