Ride-hailing firm Grab Philippines deleted a suggestive post on its social media accounts after it earned online criticisms from its riders.
The post was promoting its six-seater service but it referenced an issue relating to actor Gerald Anderson and the women he has worked with—who were mostly romantically involved with him as well.
The firm initially wrote on its social media accounts, “Walang kailangan maiwan. Walang kailangan masaktan. Sa GrabCar 6-seater, pwedeng sabay-sabay” with a smirking emoji.
It was accompanied with a picture featuring Julia Barretto, Maja Salvador, Pia Wurtzbach, Bea Alonzo, Kim Chiu and Sarah Geronimo.
Some Filipinos perceived that it sent messages of “misogyny” and “disrespect for women.”
This ain’t it, @grabph.
This is not how you ride on an issue. Women are subjected to ridicule and hate everytime a man decides to cheat and act like a d*ck.
Stop promoting misogyny. pic.twitter.com/ULHl66yW0S
— T.Maroon (@maroontito) July 23, 2019
Grab has since issued an apology after the online criticisms, saying it was “in no way encouraging nor condoning disrespect for women and disrespect within relationships.”
“We admire the love and loyalty that fans have for all these wonderful women. Thank you for reminding us what not to be!” it continued in reference to the deleted post.
Meanwhile, another ride-hailing platform known for its witty social media posts took it as an opportunity to promote its own service while referencing the indirect competition.
Over the weekend, actors Gerald Anderson, Julia Barretto, Bea Alonzo and Joshua Garcia were the subject of speculation among TV fans.
Alonzo’s social media activity fueled rumors that longtime beau, Anderson, had a fling with Barretto, his co-star in a project.
Alonzo and Garcia were also seen liking certain Instagram posts that referenced the alleged cheating.