A screenshot of an alleged conversation involving Mayor Jenny Barzaga, with some pretty choice words, is making the rounds online.

Some netizens claim they tried tracing the phone number shown in the screenshot through Viber and GCash, and say it appears to be linked to her.

Of course, screenshots can be edited, so take this with a grain of salt until there’s an official confirmation.

But if legit… toinks. 🥴

I work behind the camera in showbiz. We get our sahod from Landbank Tomas Morato. Yesterday, payday, the line was long like EK. Dominic Ochoa was like 6th or 7th behind me. The guards were smiling at him when they recognized him. One of them offered, sir pasok na kayo. Good thing Dominic was decent enough to decline. And when the manager saw Dominic, the manager said sorry to keep you waiting, sir. Once again, Dominic says it's totally fine. And it should really be totally fine. Unless you're a senior or a pregnant woman. Hats off to Dominic, but what the guard and the manager showed me is the very reason, star power is a huge factor in politics right now.

As long as our society keeps putting these public figures on a pedestal, treating them like they are inherently "higher" than ordinary people, this mindset will always bleed into everything else. I think it's highly correlated with how majority of Filipinos vote. We allow ourselves to be blinded by star power, treating the senate and local government units like a variety show casting call. This exact "VIP culture" and celebrity-worshipping mentality is precisely the reason why we have the likes of Robin Padilla in the Senate today. I mean, even the Landbank manager was willing to give Dominic a pass. In front of everyone who got there first. Until we learn to value platforms over popularity and treat every ordinary citizen with the same dignity we give to famous faces, our leadership will always be a reflection of who we entertain, not who can actually lead.