Robin Padilla received criticism for his statement during the impeachment trial
Senator Robin Padilla fired back at his critics after saying he consulted Google for legal terms during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Before becoming the number one senator in the 2022 elections, Padilla was known as the “Bad Boy of Philippine Cinema.” For many years, he has appeared in various TV shows and movies, and it was surprising to many Filipinos when he decided to enter the political arena.
However, it is quite a common scenario already in the Philippines that showbiz personalities cross over to politics.
Sen. Robin Padilla admitted in a statement during the impeachment trial on July 6 that he had to consult Google to check the legal terms, and even said that he graduated from “UP,” or the University of Prison.
“Humingi po ako ng tulong sa Google kasi legal terms po ito. Hindi naman po ako nagtapos sa UP. Hindi rin po ako nagtapos sa Ateneo. Nagtapos po ako ng criminology. At UP rin, University of Prison,” the actor-politician said.
Padilla opposed that Senator Chiz Escudero would be assigned as the presiding officer. Because of this, the actor-politician received negative comments on social media.
Through his Facebook post on July 7, Padilla slammed his critics, whom he said were just magnifying the issue. He called his critics “bayaran” or those getting paid to attack him.
“Ang isyu na pinalalaki ng mga bayaran ay ang paghingi ko ng tulong kay google para sa translation sa tagalog ng deliberasyon ng Concom (Consultative Committees) commissioners patungkol sa presiding officer, hindi ang dapat pagsunod sa saligang batas ng impeachment court,” he said.
For him, his critics are just creating stories. “Classic example of the political term Wag the Dog. Alisin sa totoong isyu ang usapan at mag imbento ng istoryang pag uusapan. Ang Pagsalin sa tagalog mula sa inglis sa google ay upang hindi ako magkamali, magdagdag, o baluktutin ang mga tinalakay sa Concom,” the senator stressed.
In the comment section of his post, Padilla received support from his followers who stressed that there was nothing working in consulting the search engine.