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Pinoy BL Festival issues statement amid criticism over inconveniences and alleged 'mistreatment' of international stars

By  Jhon Dave Cusipag
Published Jun 28, 2022 9:01 pm
Pinoy BL Festival / Facebook

Pinoy BL Festival issued a statement and public apology on Tuesday ahead of criticisms received on the alleged mistreatment on their international guests.

In a Facebook post, the organizers said that the boys' love (BL) actors from Thailand and South Korea were well taken care of during their stay.

“They were fetched from the airport going to the hotel at the Novotel Araneta Center. [Four] neat dressing rooms with CR at the backstage, tons of bottled water from Nature Spring, make up artists, catering services inside the dome for the artists and they also had a welcome dinner in a Chinese restaurant in Tondo Manila,” said the organizers.

While an international actor had to step in to be a translator on the first day, they said that two more translators came in the second day.

"It is very unfortunate that the translator did not arrive during that night, prompting one of the actors to help out. On the 2nd day, 2 translator were invited to help out the actors."

The organizers admitted their faults, assuring the public that they will do better.

“Yes, there are a lot of lapses, but the producer tried to give everyone what they wanted,” said organizers. "As much as the idea is ideal, we publicly apologize to a few chosen fans who had to extend their own resources, time and effort to help out."

“We tried, we may have failed this time around but please accept our deepest regret and apologies. Just know that we are learning, and we will not turn back on obligations.”

They asked the public to stop blaming their guests, logistic volunteers, and producers.

"To those who have posted pictures of the "so called producers" please clear their names, they are but artists, performers, guests, coordinators or volunteer staff and crew," they pleaded.

Pinoy BL Festival also made it clear that the Pinoy BL Awards is still pushing thru to a later date, asking fans to wait for further announcements.

The big fan meet

Pinoy BL Festival is the first on-site gathering of the biggest Pinoy, Thai, and Korean BL stars in the country, organized by Big Hit Production.

However, after the first-ever Pinoy BL Festival began on Friday, June 24, at SM North Edsa Sky Dome, various issues throughout the first day of the event were raised on social media not only by fans but also by their guests. 

Thai BL actors Fluk Chatchawan and Gun Tieosuwan are seen having lunch in the late afternoon after not receiving food from the event organizers in an Instagram Story by @mindarissara, an executive producer at Yriety, as screen captured by a Twitter user.

Some BL actors even tweeted that they had decided not to show up on the second day of the Pinoy BL Festival with the alleged mistreatment and apologized to their Filipino fans. 

Filipino BL fans also criticized the organizer for being unprepared, citing the lack of translators and a dressing room for their guests to change.  

@seocham pavel as a translator 😒 #pinoyblfestival #pavelphoomdaddy #earthteerapat #flukchatchawan #mysecretlovetheseries #2moons2 #lgbtq #jamespongsapak #smartchisanupong ♬ original sound - yacka (:

The actors behind the Thai BL Series Restarted didn’t receive flight tickets from the event organizer even though Pinoy BL Festival invited them, Cloth Lab Entertainment revealed through a statement in an Instagram story.

“We would like to condemn the disgusting action of Pinoy BL Festival,” said Cloth Lab Entertainment. “Cloth Lab Team still didn’t get flight tickets until 23 June, and the organizer deleted their pictures on Instagram and Twitter without explanation and apology.”

The festival was supposed to be capped by an awards night on Sunday, June 26. However, the organizers decided to postpone the event to another date to make sure that everything will run smoothly.

The Pinoy BL Festival was attended by Pinoy actors Genesis Redido, Miggy Jimenez and Paolo Pangilinan. Thai actors Earth Teerapat, Surprise Pitikuru, Fluk Chatchawan, Dong Thanabat, and Tiger Aekapol were also in attendance, as with South Korea's Jin Gun.

TAGS: pinoy bl festival pinoy bl