FILE PHOTO: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers a speech during the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on May 31, 2024. – On September 6, 2024, Marcos said the selfies of government personnel with dismissed mayor Alice Guo, who is also known as Guo Hua Ping, are only part of the “new culture,” especially as the Philippines has been tagged as the “Selfie Capital of the World.” (Photo by NHAC NGUYEN / AFP)
MANILA, Philippines — For President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., there’s nothing more to the smiles of law enforcers and officials in their photos with Alice Guo than just a “selfie” (self-portrait).
In a chance interview, Marcos said the selfies of government personnel with the dismissed mayor, also known as Guo Hua Ping, are only part of the “new culture,” especially as the Philippines has been tagged as the “Selfie Capital of the World.”
“I think that is part of the new culture now na nagpapakuha lagi ng kahit ano kasi ipo-post nila — ‘tingnan mo, oh, kasama ako sa team na umaresto sa ganyan, ganyan,” he told Palace reporters in Antipolo, Rizal.
(I think that is part of the new culture now that people are always taking pictures of anything because they will post it—look, oh, I was on the team that arrested such and such.)
READ: Alice Guo leaves PNP custodial center to appear at Tarlac court
“Ang tawag natin sa Pilipinas we are the Selfie Capital of the World, ‘di ba? ‘Di nag-selfie. Hindi mo naman mapigilan ang tao na ngumiti. So they just had a selfie. I don’t think there’s much more to it than that — nagpa-selfie sila,” he added.
(We call the Philippines the Selfie Capital of the World, right? Didn’t take a selfie. You can’t stop people from smiling. So they just had a selfie. I don’t think there’s much more to it than that— they took a selfie.)
Guo, who left the Philippines in July amid investigations into her ties with illegal Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) and her real identity and despite a Senate arrest order against her, was apprehended in Jakarta, Indonesia on Wednesday.
Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. and Philippine National Police Chief Gen. Rommel Marbil fetched Guo from Indonesia and, along with several Philippine law enforcement agents, brought her back to the Philippines before dawn Friday.
READ: Marcos: Gov’t officials behind Alice Guo’s escape will be fired, sued
Since Thursday night, social media has been abuzz with photos of Guo and Philippine government officials and personnel – all smiles together.
Broad criticisms followed, with some noting how it seemed that a celebrity – not a person facing potential criminal charges – arrived in the Philippines.
On Friday morning, Abalos aired his side regarding the controversy and stressed that the photo of him with Guo in Indonesia was taken only for documentation purposes.
“This kind of photos, basta nakaharap ang ganyan, you cannot tell. Ano na nga nasa tabi mo, etc. Itong photo na ito ay offshoot of that meeting na dinodocument na. And I really do not know, anong ginagawa niya nagpo-pose siya ng ganoon,” he said in a chance interview on the sidelines of a situation briefing in the province of Rizal.
(This kind of photo, as long as it’s facing like that, you cannot tell. What is next to you, etc. This photo is an offshoot of that meeting that is being documented. And I really do not know why she was posing like that.)
“So I hope, sabi ko nga, sana maunawaan ng mga kababayan. It was never a selfie na nagpa-selfie ganyan, ganyan. This is taken habang nag-usap kayo about things na sinasabi ka sa akin,” he said.
(So I hope, as I said, I hope the people will understand. It was never a selfie. It was taken while we were talking.)