Charles Teves
Quezon City Councilor Aiko Melendez and SK President Julian Trono received backlash from netizens after Melendez posted a TikTok video of her and Trono dancing inside the session hall.
Prior to their official session, they recorded a video where they danced together.
“With SK Federation President for QC councilor @Julian Trono fun times before the session,” Aiko wrote as caption for the video.
@aikomelendez2015 With Sk Federation President for QC councilor @Julian Trono fun times before session 😂
Melendez also posted videos where she was joined by other politicians.
On that day, the 35th regular session of the Quezon City government took place where Melendez, Trono, and other councilors seen in the videos were present at the meeting.
@aikomelendez2015 With our majority floor leader Dorothy Delarmente and konsis @Chuckieantonio @WencyLagumbay ♬ Touch My Body – Mariah Carey
As of this writing, the live stream of the session captioned as ’35th Regular Session of the 22nd Quezon City Council with Vice Mayor Gian G. Sotto as Presiding Officer’ is still available for viewing on the Facebook account of Quezon City Vice Mayor Gian Sotto.
In relation to the TikTok videos, numerous individuals raised concerns about the public servants’ conduct within the session hall. They also expressed disappointment and commented that it presented a negative perception of actors, like Melendez and Trono, who transitioned to politics.
Netizens voiced out their criticism toward Aiko and the other public officials for doing the videos inside the plenary room.
https://twitter.com/ruminarist/status/1671082615586320385?s=20
Shame, you don’t see the DISRESPECT. You’re totally missing the point. An “Ok, boomer” sarcasm won’t cut it.
This is hallow chamber in a gov’t institution. Try doing that in front of an altar of any church- – Christian or otherwise. Perhaps you’ll realize your halfwitted goof. pic.twitter.com/yLwbfb3HKS
— JPG (@joel_gregorio) June 20, 2023
https://twitter.com/MaamSyj/status/1670961187671142401?s=20
Bastos https://t.co/wRKuctHXye
— Raquel Fortun (@Doc4Dead) June 20, 2023
https://twitter.com/PingpingTweets/status/1671057618620801025?s=20
The Carlos Albert Hall serves as the designated session hall for city councilors holding their official meetings, conventions, and other approved activities under the supervision of the Vice Mayor’s Office.
Furthermore, it has been explicitly stated that recording within the hall is prohibited unless prior approval has been obtained from the Vice Mayor’s Office.
Melendez defended the videos, saying they were taken before the session started.
“Please Read the caption po. Clearly, it says ‘before session,’ it means wala pa roll call, and that was 30 mins before session, so wala kami violate na ruling. FYI… I know the ruling,” she wrote.
“We were also just celebrating because yesterday it was finally calendared in our agenda to approve the additional 10000 bonuses for our employees dahil nakuha namen ang COA unqualified opinion 3rd year in a row,” she added.
Her talent manager Ogie Diaz also defended her.
https://twitter.com/ogiediaz/status/1671011484493824001?s=20
“Pag magaganda naman ang ginagawang project, di naman naba-viral. Nag-tiktok lang, dami nang kumuda?” he pointed out.
