Some new names and old ones emerged on the first day of the filing of certificate of candidacy (COC) for the 2025 midterm elections.
Content creator Rosemarie Tan Pamulaklakin or Rosmar Tan, known for her vlogs and enterprises, is one of the candidates who earned various reactions online.
She is running for councilor in the first district of Manila with the tagline: “When no one cares Rosmar cares.”
The social media personality has 4.7 million followers on Facebook and 1.1 million subscribers on YouTube.
“Thank you Lord. [Ikaw] na po ang bahala sa bagong landas na tatahakin ko. To God be the Glory,” she wrote after filing her COC.
The content creator-business woman made headlines in June after being declared persona non-grata by the local government of Palawan for allegedly being “disrespectful” during a confrontation with a mayor’s staff. Rosmar and fellow social media personality, Rendon Labador, visited Coron, Palawan for an outreach, but a mayor’s office staff alleged in a social media post that they “used” the people of Coron for their vlog.
The social media personalities apologized after the release of a draft of the persona non-grata declaration, signifying that they are not welcome in that specific area.
READ: Coron municipal council mulls ‘persona non-grata’ tag vs vloggers Rosmar, Rendon
Meanwhile, several Pinoys took to social media to express dismay over Rosmar’s decision to run for councilor.
“You can help your countrymen without running for a position. Leave leadership to those who truly know how to lead,” an online user commented on The Philippine Star’s Facebook post about the Manila councilor bid.
“To her, everything is business. It’s insulting enough for her to think running for a position in the government is one of them. Pag yan nanalo, jusko na lang talaga Pilipinas,” a different Pinoy shared.
“Just because you can, doesn’t mean you shoulddddd!!,” a Facebook user chimed in.
The councilor aspirant’s candidacy also made waves on X (formerly Twitter).
In the same vein, various users called out personalities who they said are capitalizing on their fame to enter politics.
Several other personalities including content creators and celebrities also formalized their entry to politics during the first day of COC filing. Some of them are running for local posts while others filed for national positions.
“That Rosmar, Batangas entertainment dynasty, former celebrities, attached to celebrities filing their candidacies ang bumulaga sa Day 1. Lord, Patawad. Hay Filipinas,” a Pinoy tweeted.
“You know Philippines is f***** when the likes of Rosmar really have plans to enter public service. WDYM she filed her coc for a councilor position in Manila? Lol,” another X user wrote.
Similarly, a Vice Ganda fan page harkened back to the box office star’s vlog with celebrity doctor Vicki Belo where she spilled being offered to run for office, but declined.
The post garnered over 14,000 likes and 590,000 views.
“Marami akong fans, baka maraming pwedeng bumoto sakin, maraming matutuwa sakin. Pero ako sa sarili ko, ngayon, ‘di ako magaling dun. So bakit ako pupunta dun? Ano yun? Ipapahamak ko yung Pilipinas?,” Vice was quoted as saying.
“Not because you can win, you will run” 😶 pic.twitter.com/9bw8rJ7AF0
— dary ྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀིྀི (@viceyyglam) October 1, 2024
RELATED: Did Willie Revillame follow Dolphy’s ‘political’ advice in decision not to run for senator?
Another viral tweet expressed dismay over celebrities gunning for public office posts.
We have Ion Perez running for councilor in Tarlac, Enzo Pineda for councilor in QC, Rosmar Tan as councilor in Manila and Marco Gumabao as congressman for Camarines Sur.
WTF is this.AND THIS IS JUST THE FIRST DAY OF FILING.
— ✨ alizah 🩰🐰🐬🦖🐼☘️🐿️⚖️ (@tokki_doie) October 1, 2024
In a Facebook posts, Rosmar addressed those who are doubting her Manila councilor bid.
“Sa ngayon okay lang po na tawanan [niny]o ako kasi wala pa naman ako napatunayan sa larangan na yan bukod sa matagal na akong tumutulong sa kapwa. Someday magiging proud kayo [sa’kin] sa larangang aking papasukin,” she added.
The COC filing for the 2025 polls will run until October 8.
The Philippine midterm elections will be held on May 12, 2025.
