Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia during a press conference on Friday, August 5, 2022, at the Cebu Provincial Capitol.| CDN Digital File Photo| Wenilyn B. Sabalo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia clarified that her earlier statement publicly defending the Carmelite nuns of Cebu on the issue involving a scene in the movie “Maid in Malacañang” is not political.
The governor added that she is not inclined to suggest that the people of Cebu boycott the film.
“There are some who muddle the issue now saying that it is a political thing, that this is between the pinks and the reds, and this is between the Cory-ista and the BBM. I said that has nothing to do with it. This is neither anti-Cory or pro-Marcos or pro-Cory and anti-BBM. That is not the point here,” she said during a press conference on Friday, August 5, 2022.
“It’s your choice. If you want to watch it, watch it…But let us respect those who will not want to…It’s your choice. I trust the Cebuanos enough that they have the proper frame of mind and sense of responsibility to know what is best for them. But when the Carmelites feel that they have been unfairly represented, then I would have to stand with them,” the governor added.
Garcia, on Friday, expounded on her earlier statement of support to the Carmelite nuns of Cebu who were depicted maliciously in a controversial scene from the movie “Maid in Malacañang.”
The governor, earlier stated on her social media account that “I stand with the Carmelite nuns of Cebu. And I condemn any malicious attempt to malign them.”
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Gwen defends Cebu’s Carmelite nuns
Garcia’s statement came hours after the Carmelite Nuns issued an official statement, calling out the production team behind “Maid in Malacañang” for allegedly putting them in a negative light.
SISTERS’ ACT. Corazon Aquino, who challenged dictator Ferdinand Marcos in a “snap” presidential election in 1986, joined the Carmelite nuns for a group photo at their monastery in Barangay Mabolo in Cebu City where she sought refuge overnight when she was reportedly the prime target of an assassination plot by the military. PHOTO FROM THE CARMELITE MONASTERY ALBUM
Meanwhile, the governor, on Friday, stressed that the Carmelites had always been a part of her life, noting that she frequently prayed at the Carmelite Monastery even as a child together with her mother, the late judge Esperanza Fiel Garcia.
She also remembered how, in previous years, the Carmelite Monastery had served as her refuge through trying times, also noting how the Carmelite Monastery is so much a part of the Cebuanos’ lives.
“This is not a commentary on the movie, but this is in support of the statement of the Carmelite Prioress, Sr. Mary Melanie Costillas…And if only for my mom who passed away, when they (Carmelite nuns of Cebu) came up with the statement, feeling that they had been alluded to in the movie, and they felt that it was unfair for them, it was my duty to stand with the Carmelites, as governor of Cebu and as a decent person who stands by those that have always been there for her when times were bad,” she said.
“Regardless, if I may earn criticism, I take the position that I stand with the Carmelite nuns of Cebu and I would strongly condemn any attempt to malign them,” she added. /rcg
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