The concert tickets did not bear any logos or names of the organizer. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO / Sandy Mer
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The organizers of the Pulihi na, Cebu! concert held on Labor Day at the IC3 Pavillion denied that the concert was a political campaign or a sortie for any local party.
Shortly after the concert, Cebuano netizens took to social media to air their concerns that the free music concert apparently turned into a campaign sortie.
Read more: Free concert turned campaign sortie?
In a statement released to the media, the organization, which was composed of businessmen and civil society organizations, said that the event was part of their advocacy to awaken the youth of the current issues of Cebu City.
“No politicians campaigned during the concert since the organizers assure the people that it is a movement. Those, who are claiming that the concert was a scam, are the ones that did not come to the concert, and is politically motivated by the mayor in position,” said the organizers in their statement.
The organizers clarified that the Pulihi na, Cebu! is a movement that began in the final days of President Ferdinand Marcos’ martial law era to inspire the youth to speak out.
The organizers said at least 20,000 people, who attended the event witnessed talks on the pressing issues of Cebu City including problem on garbage, traffic, water, flood, and poverty.
However, the organizers did not deny the presence of Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella in the event and whether he spoke to the public during the concert.
Labella on his facebook post thanked the organizers of the concert and the audience as well.
“To the over 20,000 Cebuano Youth who patiently waited in line and attended the Buwan Concert last night, DAGHANG SALAMAT! To my friends and supporters who organized the event, DAGHANG SALAMAT!” said Labella on his post.
The free music concert featured Cebuano artists Juan Karlos Labajo, Karencitta and Janine Berdin, who rose to fame in the national and international scenes.
On the facebook page of CDN Digital, some netizens expressed their support to the organizers who put up the concert.
A certain Ciamel Quiño said that Labella only spoke less than two minutes on stage and the concert was more of an entertainment than a campaign.
“This was for entertainment. Walay nangampanya ani. Wala gni kaabot 2 minutes si mayor labella sa stage. And to think of it IT’S FREE. So WELCOME TANAN,” the netizen said on the comment section of CDN Digital post on the Pulihi na, Cebu! free concert.
Another netizen, Lucita Reyes, said that people should be grateful of the free entertainment and praised the artist for their performance.
“Free man na unya singers man pud ang nagperform Dili man ang kandidato ang nagkanta, wa mailad ang audience! Naa ra na sa audience ug mobotar sila sa mga kandidato didto (The concert was free and it was the singers who performed and not the candidates. The audience was not duped. It would depend on the audience if they would vote for the candidates who were present during the event.),” she said. ###