Members of the leading opposition party the Liberal Party have issued their apologies after drawing flak for what was considered an insensitive photo-op in front of a Holocaust memorial in Berlin, Germany.
Some fellow administration critics refused to defend the LP for the move.
Leni Robredo and company are rightly called out for their inappropriate pictorial at a holocaust memorial. Neither history nor life should be trivialized.
As a matter of consistency, those who call out the group of Robredo should also say #hukayinsimarcos and #stopthekillings
— Gideon Peña (@gideonpena) April 16, 2018
However, some of its supporters have made the argument that the gravity of the LP delegation’s lapse in judgement was not even on par with the administration’s brutal drug crackdown.
1. Nobody’s perfect. Even the morally upright can make mistakes.
2. The ability to apologize is a sign of credibility.
3. There’s no moral equivalence between an inappropriate photograph & a policy of killing one’s citizens or giving away territories.
Malayo yun mga bes.
— florin hilbay (@fthilbay) April 16, 2018
So Leni Robredo took a smiling photo at the Holocaust Memorial and the DDS nation lost their shit.
So bitch, ano gusto niyo umiyak dun si Leni Robredo?
— back rolls (@alrstr) April 17, 2018
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV was one of the public officials to join the opposition’s counterattack.
You bash VP Leni and the LP for a photo, yet you praise Duterte for the 20,000 EJKs. Are there no limits to your hypocrisy?
— Sonny Trillanes IV (@TrillanesSonny) April 16, 2018
As expected, the administration’s roster of firebrands have spoken on the issue.
Let us not discourage Leni from taking lots of photos locally and during her trips abroad. It helps other people understand why we think she is not fit to be in higher position in govt.
— ilda (@ilda_talk) April 17, 2018
While the noise has yet to die down, some LP figures have owed up to the blunder.
Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat J.R., who originally posted the picture, was first to show remorse following backlash from all sides of the political spectrum. He admitted to have posted the now-controversial image on social media, which has since been deleted.
“I apologize for this lapse in my post,” says Baguilat in a series of tweets on Monday evening.
We, as human rights advocates, fully understand the plight experienced by Jews under the Nazis and we would be the last to disrespect their memory, in the same way that we condemn injustice anywhere in the world, including our own country. I apologize for this lapse in my post.
— Teddy B. Baguilat (@TeddyBaguilatJr) April 16, 2018
Baguilat, a staunch drug war critic, also discussed the comparisons drawn between the Jewish Holocaust during the Second World War and the series of extrajudicial killings attributed to the Philippine government.
Victims of EJKs, slain journalists and environmental advocates, slain tribal leaders – dumaan din sila sa kanilang holocaust and each time we dismiss this as “the new normal”, tuwing tatahimik tayo, we lose our sense of humanity too.
— Teddy B. Baguilat (@TeddyBaguilatJr) April 16, 2018
Vice President Leni Robredo herself has also issued a direct-to-the-point apology.
“While there was no malice in it, I take full responsibility, so I would like to apologize for whatever offense to the sensitivities of the people it caused,” Robredo said.
The apology at least appears to have appeased some of those who were initially critical of the LP’s photo-op.
And to make it official, here it is, mga bes!
?????
Thank you, @lenirobredo for showing everyone how it should be done. May the rabid ka DDS and your very own rabid supporters learn what humility is from you.
Okay na ako, gais. She truly showed ’em! https://t.co/Xu7L8tzIbr
— Ethel (@econcepcion) April 17, 2018