Isko Moreno with his vice presidential candidate and senatorial slate in Cabanatuan City. Photo by Armand M. Galang
CABANATUAN CITY — Aksyon Demokratiko standard bearer Manila Mayor Isko Moreno slammed on Friday the used of word “laylayan ng lipunan” in reference to poor Filipinos.
“So, pag tiningnan mo talaga nasa ugali ng tao na yun na nagsasalita yung mababang uri ang mahihirap. Kasi mataas ang tingin nila sa sarili nila, mababa ang tingin nila sa atin,” Moreno who stood up to demonstrate how a standing man looks down to see those below.
The word “mahirap” for the poor cannot be substituted with “laylayan ng lipunan,” he said. “Why change the words? To please the ears? Can we cure…masu-solusyunan ba natin yung hirap ng tao kapag tinawag mo siyang laylayan ng lipunan?”
Moreno did not name names. Among the presidentiables though, it is independent candidate Leni Robredo who uses the catchword.
In another swipe at fellow candidates, Moreno said an electric fan or a calamansi cannot address the problems confronting the country.
“Hindi makukuha ng electric fan ang problema mg bayan. Hindi makukuha ng kalamansi, idi-display mo ang problema ng bayan,” he said in response to village head Joey Tucay of Calawagan here.
Tucay told Moreno that a certain presidential bet went to this city and held calamansi citrus fruit but allegedly offered no solution to farmers’ problems.
Reports showed Robredo met with members of the Palay and Kalamansi Farmers Agriculture Cooperative in Barangay Bagong Sikat here in November 2021.
Robredo has said her office has been in touch with the farmers’ group since 2017 as they arranged a linkage with the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech).
