The July 18 protest against ABS-CBN’s unfortunate shutdown in Quezon City was attended by huge Kapamilya stars such as Angel Locsin, who came out looking like a leader during the event as she gave a speech before the network’s supporters.
Locsin called out fellow artists who at the time, were silent amid the shut down that is inevitably going to affect the 11,000 employees.
Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla held up signs that said “Walang iwanan ” and “Hanggang sa buwan #kapitkapamilya.”
Other stars who joined were Jaime Fabregas, Joel Torre, Bianca Gonzalez, Jake Cuenca, Kylie Verzosa, and young actors Edward Barber and Maymay Entrata.
Even nuns from St. Scholastica’s College were at the rally showing their support for ABS-CBN, which many saw as unusual yet telling at the same time.
Even nuns protest. Who are we to say that prayers are enough? https://t.co/ydImpkQct6
— Benok Castillo (@benok_castillo) July 20, 2020
Many also saw this as proof that prayers and faith won’t be enough.
Nasa Diyos ang awa.. nasa tao ang gawa
— Chen 🌸🪬 (@What_Me_Say) July 20, 2020
Upcoming Darna actress Jane de Leon garnered criticisms from the network’s supporters for not only showing up at the rally but also for remaining silent on the issue.
“We are still at risk because we all have an invisible enemy to deal with. Our health and that of our loved ones are at stake. As the COVID infection rate in our country continues to rise, hospitals and facilities are nearing, if not reached, full capacity,” de Leon reasoned in one of her posts as an attempt to defend her inaction.
Stars such as Sarah Geronimo and Nadine Lustre have also recently just spoken up about the franchise issue.
The retrenchment is going to take effect on August 31 that would leave thousands of employees jobless. High profile names like Ces Drilon and Korina Sanchez will be saying their goodbyes to the network.