From student certificates to city-officiated weddings.
Malabon City Mayor Jeannie Sandoval garnered attention anew after her image and name were spotted on the cake cards for the couples who participated in a “Kasalan sa Bayan” initiative.
A Filipino Reddit user on Sunday, August 6 posted a picture of a cake with a card taken during the “Libreng Kasalan sa Malabon 2023.”
The card bore the name of a couple with a large image of Jeannie beside it. Her name is also printed on the cake card.
“Congrats sa bagong kasal,” the Redditor commented.
A similar image can be seen in the photos posted by the Malabon Public Information Office (PIO) on its Facebook page on August 1.
Another Redditor joked that “time flies by so fast” since Sandoval was previously seen in students’ certificates in a moving-up ceremony last month.
“Nung isang araw, graduate ng Kinder si Mayor Jennie Sandoval. Ngayon, kinasal na [siya]. Ang bilis ng panahon, grabe,” the Reddit user commented.
“Epal of the year, amp*ta,” another Redditor wrote in response to the picture.
“A wedding to remember, ang [maaalala] lang ‘yang epal mong mukha,” commented a different Reddit user, referencing the phrase spotted in the name card.
“[Pati] ‘yung cake hindi pinalagpas ni mayor,” another Redditor wrote.
The Malabon City Government posted about its city-officiated mass wedding last Monday on Facebook, where it posted pictures from the event. It also thanked those who organized the occasion.
The local government unit also mentioned that the couples had a free prenup shoot.
Reports said that the Malabon city government held its mass wedding at the Malabon Sports Complex on July 29.
A total of 105 couples participated in the event, which was also held during the wedding anniversary celebration of Jeannie and her husband, former lawmaker Ricky Sandoval.
“I have always been a romantic and I wanted to give a wedding ceremony that is truly memorable for our couples. I share the hopes of the couples here today. Their dreams and hopes for their family are what my administration will strive to achieve for Malabon,” the city chief said in the ceremony.
The city government initiated the mass wedding for its couples in the marginalized sector to have a proper wedding ceremony.
Each of the couple also received P3,000 from Jeannie and the city government.
Meanwhile, this was not the first time the Malabon mayor was criticized for having her name and image in some city initiatives.
Last month, Jeannie’s name and image were spotted on some of the certificates for kindergarteners who celebrated their moving-up ceremony.
“Kami po ‘yung naghirap sa certificate, tapos mukha niya ang nakalagay,” a student reportedly said before.
RELATED: Malabon LGU explains viral student certificates with images of Tmayor
That time, the city government explained that it was “closely monitoring” the students’ performance.
In 2019, a legislation dubbed the “anti-epal bill” was refiled in Congress which seeks to prohibit and penalize politicians who post their names and faces on public projects.
“Crediting individuals instead of the government on any public work, project, assistance or program is unethical and a manifestation of the nation’s deeply troubling political patronage,” Rep. Ace Barbers (Surigao, Second District) said before.
“This system of political advertising also promotes corruption among our officials, sending a wrong sense of accomplishment among the citizens,” he added.
