'Salamat sa wake-up call': Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda addresses backlash over designer clothes during flood inspection
Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda has broken her silence days after she and her son, Pampanga Vice Gov. Dennis Pineda, were pictured wearing designer clothes while they inspected flooded areas in their province in the aftermath of heavy habagat rains.
In an interview with One News, Pineda clarified she and her son don't always wear designer brands.
"Siguro dahil meron naman kaming konting pera... 'yun namang pagsusuot ng mga ganu'n, hindi naman siya ganu'ng kamahal. Siguro natiyempo, hindi naman lagi," Pineda said.
Per the governor, in their hurry to get to work after waking at 6 a.m. that day, they just grabbed whatever clothes were within reach.
"Kasi talagang 'pag gumising kami alas sais ng umaga, kung ano lang madampot mo, 'yun lang isusuot mo kasi malakas ang ulan, matubig. Talagang kailangan meron kang kapote. Actually kapote lang 'yun," Pineda said, adding it wasn't that expensive.
She said it isn't every day that she and her son wear designer brands.
"Siguro 'yung araw na 'yun, nagkasabay. Pero not naman every day. Not naman lagi. Hindi naman kami ganu'n. Hindi ako ganu'n," Pineda said.
The governor saw the negative comments as merely opinions of some of her constituents and said there was nothing else she could say about their comments.
"Kanya-kanyang opinyon ang mga tao, eh... I-accept natin ang opinyon nila na 'yun," she said.
Still, after some prodding, she apologized.
"Kung nakita nila 'yun na nagkamali kami du'n sa ganu'ng attire namin, sorry," she said.
"Salamat sa wake-up call niyo sa akin. Salamat sa pagpuna ninyo," Pineda added.
Comments aside, Pineda said her office has been working nonstop amidst the flooding.
"Ginagawa naman namin 'yung obligasyon namin. Ginagawa naman namin 'yung dapat nating gawin. Actually, matagal na talaga itong baha na 'to, pero 24/7 kaming nagtatrabaho," she said.
Photos of the mother and son quickly circulated online as social media users called out their apparent tone-deaf choice of outfits while conducting flood inspections with Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon.
Gov. Pineda was shown in what looked like a navy Prada shirt under a Burberry nylon parka while her son appeared to be wearing a monogrammed Balmain windbreaker. According to the Burberry website, its nylon parka costs P84,000. A monogrammed Balmain bomber jacket, with a design similar to Vice Gov. Pineda's windbreaker, goes for USD1,120 (about P69,900), per luxury fashion e-commerce website Editorialist.
