Marcos on Alice Guo selfie flak: 'We are the selfie capital of the world’

Metro Manila, Philippines— President Bongbong Marcos defended government officials who took selfies with dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo in Jakarta, Indonesia, calling it part of the country's selfie culture.

Some lawmakers and netizens criticized the officials for supposedly treating Guo like a "celebrity" despite multiple complaints against her related to human trafficking and illegal offshore gaming.

“I think that is part of the new culture now na nagpapakuha lagi ng kahit ano kasi ipopost nila: Tingnan mo, oh, kasama ako sa team na umaresto sa ganyan,’” said Marcos in an interview with reporters in Antipolo, Rizal.

[Translation: I think that is part of the new culture now, where people always take photos of anything because they will post it: ‘Look, I’m part of the arresting team.’]

He said Filipinos have the habit of taking selfies.

“Ang tawag natin sa Pilipinas we are the selfie capital of the world, ‘di ba? ‘Di nag-selfie. Hindi mo naman mapigilan ang tao na ngumiti. So they just had a selfie. I don’t think there’s much more to it than that—nagpa-selfie sila,” he said.

[Translation: We call the Philippines the selfie capital of the world, right? So they took a selfie. You can’t stop people from smiling. So they just had a selfie. I don’t think there’s much more to it than that—they just took a selfie.]

Asked what he expects from Guo, Marcos said she should explain how POGOs (Philippine offshore gaming operators) managed to do business when she was mayor.

”What I want to hear from her is for her to lay out exactly how these POGOs became so large, it’s basically a criminal enterprise. And as mayor for her to say she did not know this was going on. It’s very difficult to believe because as a former local government executive, it seems impossible that an operation is, what, a few hundred meters away from my own office, hindi ko alam yung nangyayari doon, iligal na ganitong kalaki na operation [I don’t know what is happening there, a big illegal operation],” Marcos said.

He added that many questions remain unanswered.

“Tapos marami pa siyang sasagutin. Paano siya yumaman nang ganyan? Bakit ang dami-dami niyang pera? Paano siya naging mayor na hindi naman siya kilala ng mga taga-doon? All of these things,” he added.

[Translation: And she has more to answer for. How did she become that wealthy? Why does she have so much money? How did she become mayor when she wasn’t even known among the locals? All of these things.]