Opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros used a popular catchphrase that has been trending on social media in an online post about a children’s book released by Vice President Sara Duterte.
The lawmaker and the vice president traded barbs on Tuesday over an illustrated children’s book with an allotted budget of P10 million.
Duterte attended the Senate budget deliberation on the 2025 proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), which is P2.037 billion.
Reports said things started amicably but heated up when Hontiveros said she would make a motion to lodge the OVP’s proposed program budgets into government agencies.
The lawmaker reasoned that the OVP’s programs appeared to be similar to existing programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Department of Health, and the Department of Labor and Employment.
These include medical and burial assistance, as well as livelihood support.
Hontiveros then asked about the “Pagbabago Campaign” in which bags would be distributed to one million children. It includes the book “Isang Kaibigan,” a book by Duterte.
The senator asked what the book was about, to which Duterte commented that the former appeared to be “politicizing.”
The vice president later said that the book was not for sale and that only the publication would be paid. She also said she would send a copy of it to those present in the Senate budget deliberations.
Hontiveros on Wednesday received the book and shared a video of it on Facebook with the caption: “Very demure, very mindful.”
“Natanggap na po natin ang libro,” she said in the clip.
It is edited with background music from Billie Eilish‘s “What Was I Made For.”
Hontiveros’ post has earned 6.2 million views, 203,00 likes and reactions, and 14,600 comments so far.
It also made its way to r/Philippines, a Reddit community dedicated to Filipinos and everything related to the country.
The Redditor also took note of the senator’s caption which is an expression that has recently become popular on the internet.
“Very cutesy, very demure, she’s not like other girls,” the Reddit user said.
Very cutesy, very demure, she’s not like other girls
byu/Pinaslakan inPhilippines
Some Pinoys found Hontiveros’ post amusing.
“HAHAHAHAHHA, MISS MA’AM, BAKIT MO NAMAN NILARO HUHUHU, GINANON LANG ANG LIBRO NI FIONA, HAHAHAHAHA,” a Redditor wrote.
“Gusto ko ‘yung caption [niya, plus] ‘yung background music HAHAHAA. Nice, SenRi [Senator Risa],” another commenter said.
What’s with the phrase?
The “very demure, very mindful” phrase came from TikTok, which was coined by TikTok sensation Jools Lebron.
It started when she posted a video showcasing her professional makeup look in early August.
“See how I do my makeup for work? Very demure, very mindful. I don’t do too much. I’m very mindful while I’m at work. See how I look? Very presentable,” Lebron said.
“A lot of you girls go to the interview, looking like Marge Simpson, and go to the job looking like Patty and Selma. Not demure,” she said in the TikTok video that propelled the word “demure” into the spotlight.
@joolieannie #fyp #demure ♬ original sound – Jools Lebron
Lebron explained that she was working as a cashier at that time and that her “demure” video was a reference to another video, where she chose to go for a more natural look for her first day at a new job after doing a more dramatic makeup style at a previous job.
The phrase eventually caught on among internet users, including Filipinos.