Fans of actress-socialite Heart Evangelista defended her from a basher who claimed that she is a “gold digger.”
Twitter user @BasherNgBayan10 on Monday tagged the wife of senator-elect Chiz Escudero and wrote: “Si @heart021485 is a gold digger is a fact.”
A gold digger refers to “a person whose romantic pursuit of, relationship with, or marriage to a wealthy person is primarily or solely motivated by a desire for money.”
Heart responded to the tweet and said that she “doesn’t need anyone to survive.”
“I am a woman and a woman can be or do anything she wants if she wills it. Remember I said that,” she added in a quote tweet.
Heart’s response has earned a whopping number of 10,100 likes and over 1,000 retweets.
Fans also defended her from the label by citing her family background, especially when she was still a child.
“She didn’t need the Escudero name bc (because) she’s an Ongpauco before she was ever married,” a Twitter user told the basher.
“Paki-research po kung sino ang Ongpauco Clan. Talino mo kasi,” another online user wrote.
“Mother side pa lang ni Miss Heart gg na agad e,” shared a different fan, citing a website that features a family background of the socialite.
Mother side palang ni miss heart gg na agad e 😭https://t.co/xSQCgL1KwW
— Joshua tan (@josh3santos) June 20, 2022
“Paano naging gold digger si Ms. Heart when she’s rich since birth. Plus she’s actress, model and artist. Grabe kayo. ‘Pag inggit, pikit na lang. Jeez,” commented another Twitter user.
“Ms. Heart Evangelista, (whose) family owns the Barrio Fiesta restaurant chain and a successful model, actress and singer since 13 years old. A gold digger?!” a different fan exclaimed.
Heart’s father is Reynaldo Evangelista Ongpauco, the food and beverage magnate behind the Barrio Fiesta restaurant group, which is a Filipino restaurant industry pioneer.
The restaurant was founded by her paternal grandmother, Sixta Evangelista Ongpauco, in 1952.
Meanwhile, Heart’s mother, Maria Cecilia Del Gallego Payawal, comes from a family that owns a sugar cane plantation in Camarines Sur.
According to a website previously cited by a Twitter user, hernameislovemarie.com, Heart’s maternal great grandfather is Don Juan Del Gallego, a Spanish traveler and tradesman.
He founded the town of Del Gallego and built the first lumber mill in Sitio Pinagdapian.
In a 2012 interview with The Philippine STAR, Heart said that “he had copra plantations and cattle businesses.”
“He also built a Spanish-style house in Albay overlooking the sea. He had 16 children, all from one Filipina wife who was my great-grandmother,” she shared.
The website said that her great-grandfather was “dubbed the Old Man of Bicol.”
He eventually became the first mayor of Del Gallego and was instrumental in erecting the southern line of the Manila Railroad Company.
