YOU MAY have seen an art card of Quezon City mayor Joy Belmonte pop up on your feeds, with the city exec congratulating Hidilyn Diaz on her gold medal win in weightlifting.
Netizens slammed the posters for what appeared to be a self-serving layout, where the mayor’s picture was even larger than that of the champion athlete.
The mayor has blasted the poster as fake — part of what she called “black propaganda and smear campaigns.”
“While it is true that I join the rest of the country in celebrating the historic Olympic gold medal win of Hidilyn Diaz, it is absolutely untrue that the fake ‘congratulatory message’ using my picture (and now circulating online) came from me, or anyone from the city government,” she said in a statement released by the official Quezon City Facebook page.
“Foul po ang tawag diyan,” she said.
Belmonte’s statement attributed the circulation of the poster to “malicious individuals,” who are active now because of the approaching election season.
“Pero sana naman po, hindi niyo na dinamay si Hidilyn Diaz upang gumawa ng kasinungalingan at siraan ako,” the mayor added.
Caloocan mayor also said to be victim of fake Hidilyn posters
She is not alone in her claim of being the victim of fake Hidilyn Diaz congratulatory posters.
Caloocan City representative Dale Malapitan also disowned a similar poster that also circulated on social media that featured himself and his father, Caloocan mayor Oscar Malapitan.
“I categorically deny that the posters/social media posts congratulating Ms. Hidilyn Diaz wherein photos of Mayor Oca and I were maliciously placed side by side came from my office nor produced by my team,” said Malapitan in a statement, according to an Inquirer report.
Belmonte called on the country to come together in the wake of Diaz’s victory.
“[L]et us all continue to unite behind the spirit and ideals that Hidilyn exemplified, as she symbolically lifted an entire country last July 26: diligence, determination, patriotism, and the will and passion to achieve her dreams,” she said.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
