Has Romeo Ogong outstayed his welcome in Baguio?
After the country singer from the South publicly apologized over his gender slur, the Baguio City Council is set to review calls to declare him persona non grata on Monday, March 2.
Ogong said he never expected the issue to escalate because the remark was only meant to be a joke. “I am sorry if I crossed the line, given that the celebration is supposed to be family oriented. I was not very informed. It was very hard for me as a performer actually to please everybody and the joke started not on me, sinasakyan ko lang ang crowd. As long as my heart is not guilty, for the crime that they are trying to, i-charge sa akin na binastos ko ang community. Again, it was supposed to be meant a joke.”
The Onjon ni Ivadoy Association, Inc. gathered Baguio councilors Joel Alangsab, Indigenous Peoples’ Mandatory Representative Max Edwin, and Baguio Character Council adviser Engineer Popo Cosalan on February 26 at Ibaloy Park with Ogong and his lawyers, Ranjan Kalyl Umaking Wanget and Ivory Miles Batton, for a dialogue and to witness a public apology.
Public backlash stemmed from a gender-based slur directed at women during his Feb. 23 performance at the Melvin Jones Grandstand for the 17th Ibaloy Day celebration, themed “Buday chiya Bagiw, makajowanan say wara e pan-aadivayan,” held in recognition of Ibaloy culture and the original settlers of Baguio.
Maria Cynthia Cornel Abalos of the Baguio Character Council, who first called out the performer following the Ibaloy Day performance, said: “An apology is not only a word we express to please. It is a move to resolve a dispute by owning your own mistake. It calls a person to change his behavior.”
Abalos recounted the joke: “Bilang babae, nagalit dahil nabastos ang kababaihan, hindi dapat gawing biro ang IVF kasi maraming couple ang inaabot ng mahabang proseso para lang magkaroon ng anak. Ang malala pa is nag-offer siya as sperm donor in public na parang ganun kadali, kabastusan sa lahat ng kababaihan kahit “biro” lang”
Earlier, the women’s group Innabuyog-Gabriela condemned the sexual slurs made by Ogong, saying: “There is nothing humorous, accidental, or excusable about his remarks. They are blatant expressions of feudal, misogynistic, and patriarchal thinking that perpetuate the low status of women in society and place them at risk of abuse and violence. Statements like the one uttered by Mr. Ogong do not exist in isolation, they are products of a culture that normalizes disrespect, reinforces discrimination, and fuels violence against women.”
Abalos said Ogong further explained: “Hindi daw natin maiintindihan ang feeling ng nasa entablado ka, overwhelmed by the crowd in front of you IF you are not a performer yourself.”
Abalos said being a performer is a responsibility because it can influence and affect the emotions of people.
Edwin said he filed a resolution to declare Ogong persona non grata before the singer’s team reached out, while lone lady councilor Betty Lourdes Tabanda said: “The women of Baguio should rise and complain, I will stand my ground. I do not want the women in Baguio to be disrespected.”
Tabanda first declared the possibility of declaring Ogong persona non grata in the city. –Maria Elena Catajan, with reports from Dianne Mallare and Juleana Christe Sarmiento, UP Baguio Interns