The etiquette on inviting personalities to speaking engagement was brought to light after actor and screenwriter Juan Miguel Severo called out a school organization overt disrespect to its roundtable discussion invite.
Severo on Wednesday shared screenshots of tweets of a student who invited him for a university organization speaking engagement. He blurred the names of persons in the screengrabs.
Based on the screenshots, the student claimed that he “high-key hates” Severo who was invited to their “roundtable discussion.”
The person also wrote “plastikan muna” in another tweet with a screenshot of his invitation to the writer-actor.
These remarks did not sit well with Severo who found the tweets disrespectful.
“Huwag ganito, guys. May mga trabaho ang taong paglalaanan kayo ng oras na hiningi ninyo. Huwag na lang ninyong imbitahin,” he said.
Severo later tagged the Twitter handle of the organization the University of the Philippines Speech Communication Association and told them:
“I don’t think it’s in the best interest of a communication students’ org to do such things.”
The actor and screenwriter also informed his followers that he decided to cancel the invitation.
“Cancelled on them na!” Severo wrote.
Guest speakers or resource persons– celebrities, public speakers or regular members of the workforce, allot time and resources to events they were invited at and impart knowledge or training that were asked of them.
Respect and being professional to them is the least participants could do, even on social media where personalities like Severo are active.
Sociology professor Ash Presto pointed these views out in her reaction to Severo’s tweet. Presto also added that some guests no longer receive fees in return due to the pandemic.
“Resource speakers, especially for non-profit and student organizations, allot time and energy for engagements even when they don’t get any remunerations (since the pandemic started, they rarely even get a certificate/token of appreciation). Kaya kaunting respeto naman sana diyan oh,” Presto wrote.
Mark Averilla or Macoy Dubs, who also participated in similar talks in the past, echoed the same view.
“People, we need to be more courteous,” he said.
Some of Severo’s fans and friends also criticized the organization, saying they could have just not invited him in the first place.
“I hope org representatives who invite speakers don’t do this anymore. Sobrang disrespectful,” activist Vince Liban said.
“You can literally just not invite him, y’know,” said another writer Alfonso Manalastas.
Creative director and Metro Manila Pride trustee Thysz Estrada, meanwhile, asked Severo about the hate he received.
“Grabe yung high key hate?” Estrada said.
Severo responded with a gif from Star Wars with the quote: “What have I done?”
The UP organization or its representative has yet to issue a respond into this issue.