Mayor’s ECQ ‘cooking’ spurs online challenge among locals

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

A viral photo of Mayor Geefre ‘Kalay’ Alonsabe of Alimodian, Iloilo that was uploaded on his personal Facebook account sparked a social media competition among its residents, with the prize amounting to P10,000.

On April 18, Alonsabe uploaded a photo and a video of himself cooking meals for the town’s frontliners while wearing a duster. The photo and the video garnered online traction, prompting both positive and negative comments.

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. had placed the entire province, including Alimodian, under the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) on March 20, 2020 through Executive Order No. 080.

Phaul Rey Tolentino, a resident of Alimodian and family friend of the mayor, started the challenge in response to the negative comments to the photo.

Tolentino announced the winners on his personal Facebook account Saturday evening.

The top five finishers all received cash prizes sponsored by Alonsabe, several other town officials and employees, and Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who were also residents of the town.

The winners received P10,000 (first place), P7,000 (second place), P3,000 (third place), P4,000 (fourth place), and P1,000 (fifth place).

A total of P4,000 was set aside from the sponsorships as additional funding for the frontliners’ food supplies.

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SPAWNED IDEA

Tolentino, who is a law student, said he had an idea of posting a picture of himself while studying for one of his subjects.

He added that the social media challenge blew up from that single post.

“What prompted us to do this challenge is the viral post of Mayor Kalay that he was preparing dinner for our frontliners. A lot of people praised him and there were some who question why he was wearing a “duster” dress. I was so angry and I posted, ‘Ano gid gusto niyo? Gusto niyo kun naga-luto, naka-barong gid kag Filipiniana?’ And then after that, while reading for Constitutional Law II, it just popped up in my brain, ‘What if I cooked my dinner tonight wearing my barong?’ So I posted it on Facebook,” he said.

Tolentino said that the challenge spawned into a full-blown contest after other residents of the town soon followed suit.

“When I posted the picture, the people were so entertained. They also wanted to do it, but at that time there was a challenge already, it became viral in our town, and a lot were so enticed with the prize of 5,000. And when it became 10,000, a lot of them were really encouraged to join. Then and there, I was so happy when I saw their posts. Effort kung effort, grabe gid sila ya. The people had a very positive response with our OFW kababayans, etc.,” he said.

Tolentino said that Alonsabe, other local officials, and even frontliners became very supportive of the idea.

“Mayor Kalay was so entertained. He was so entertained to the extent that he added some amount to our prize, in these times of crisis, we have something to lighten up our day, and I think that the purpose for this is for us to enjoy. I am so happy that we had positive responses not only from Mayor Kalay but from Vice Mayor Ian Alfeche, we had positive responses even the councilors were now sharing posts. LGU officials, officers, employees, frontliners were so entertained, so, we’re happy about this,” he said.

Tolentino said that for most of them, this was their source of entertainment, as many were very active on social media since the start of the ECQ.

He added that sponsors of the cash prizes were hopeful that the winners would donate some of the money to the frontliners.

“In times like this, entertainment na lang gid subong. The only thing that can entertain us now is the company of our family, the social media, the television, etc., things that are inside our homes. But what can help us reach others without going outside our homes is through social media. I am very happy that we are using social media right now not for the bad, but for the betterment of our situation right now, because the winner, as instructed by our sponsor, tani i-donate ya some of it to our frontliners,” he said.

He said that he was happy knowing that the contest eased the burdens of town residents and other people as well.

“Right now, we need something that can lighten up our day. we pull happiness and strength from these frontliners of ours because of their dedication, but also to crack the ice a little bit because news right now is problematic, full of positive or negative numbers or cases, so it’s time for us to crack the ice and it’s so amazing to see a lot of artistic people from Alimodian,” he said.

Daily Guardian has reached out to Mayor Alonsabe for his reaction but he has yet to respond.