The money could have been distributed in a more humane way.
These were the criticisms of some social media users after watching provincial kingpin Luis Chavit Singson‘s gesture of showering his constituents in Narvacan, Ilocos Sur with peso bills.
In a video released on December 28, Singson, provincial mayor of Narvacan, was shown loading a golden gun with pieces of cash worth P100 and P500.
He then went around parts of the town to spray wads of cash either from the sunroof of his black Hummer or in the middle of excited crowds of residents.
Amid the still raging pandemic, Singson was not wearing the mandated face mask. The people featured in the video were also not wearing face masks and observing physical distancing rules.
The provincial government official captioned the video with: “MGA TAGA NARVACAN HANDA NA BA KAYO? (Cash emojis) #HappyHolidays #SpiritOfGiving #LCS #LuisChavitSingson.”
The video itself has over 2.6 million views with 67,000 reactions and 5,900 comments.
Most of the reactions were also positive where 39,000 are likes, 13,000 are shock emojis and 8,600 are heart emojis.
The comments section was mostly filled with thankful messages to Singson.
Some of the comments, however, perceived the businessman’s method of giving away money as demeaning to the people.
They pointed out that he could have distributed it in a safer, more respectful way.
“This is not nice I feel like they make fun [of] poor people, why not put in an envelope and give it to them one by one,” one user said.
“You have good intentions but couldn’t it be better if you put it in the envelope and give it one by one shake their hands and greet them for happy holidays than doing like you are making fun of the people,” another user said.
“Give it with respect and dignity to people, mahirap na kami ginagawa nyo pang laruan,” another user added.
Some users also criticized him for the disorder of the mob amid the ongoing health crisis.
“How I wish for a more orderly Christmas gift distribution! Have you forgotten Covid spreader event!” one user said.
“Dapat binibigyan ng paabot para di nagkakasiksikan at tulakan kawawa yong masasktan tapos walang madadampot,” another user wrote.
Singson was previously known as a vocal supporter of Sen. Manny Pacquiao, a presidential candidate, in the latter’s boxing matches overseas and political endeavors.
However, early this year, he parted ways with him over disagreements with the proposed higher imposition of taxes for alcohol and tobacco products.
In 2016, through his conglomerate LCS Group of Companies, he also pledged for the Philippines to finance the Philippines’ hosting of the prestigious Miss Universe pageant.
Then, in 2019, he acquired the entire Miss Universe Philippines organization, thus later removing the MUP from the Binibining Pilipinas Charities Inc.