Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo was not asked to sing the national anthem and the folk song Bahay Kubo during a Senate hearing even as a viral TikTok video suggested otherwise.
The video posted on June 2 by user @applepeps shows a manipulated video of Guo at a public hearing with the accompanying text:
Mayor Alice Pinakanta ng Bahay Kubo (Mayor Alice was asked to sing Bahay Kubo)
At the 0:08 mark of the video, a voiceover makes it seem that a senator is asking Guo to sing Lupang Hinirang and Bahay Kubo to prove her citizenship. The voiceover says:
Sinabi mo sa amin na isa kang Pilipino at hindi ka spy, tama? Sige nga, kung tunay ka ngang Pilipino, kantahin mo ang Lupang Hinirang at Bahay Kubo (You told us that you are a Filipino and not a spy, right? If that’s really the case, sing Lupang Hinirang and Bahay Kubo).
A visit to the official Facebook page of the Senate revealed that the voiceover was not part of the original footage.
The original video is from the livestream of the May 7 public hearing of the Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality held jointly with the Committee on Migrant Workers, and Public Order and Dangerous Drugs and presided by Sen. Risa Hontiveros.
Guo was at the hearing to prove her identity. The hearing focused on verifying her citizenship and resolving discrepancies in her personal records. She was recently suspended from office due to allegations of misconduct.
As of writing, the TikTok post has reached 11.2 million views, 578,100 likes, 10,391 comments, 36,800 saves and 40,000 shares. One of the top comments on the video reads:
Mayor ka hindi mo alam yan haha, diba every monday kinakanta niyo yan sa city hall Haha (You’re a mayor and you don’t know that. Don’t you sing that every Monday at the city hall)?
The video was also reposted on YouTube several times. (MC)