Online personality and actress Gela Alonte faced renewed criticisms online amid netizens’ frustration over her lavish birthday celebration amid ongoing flood crisis in Biñan, Laguna where her father is mayor, on top of a resurfaced video of her response to a political dynasty question.
On Wednesday, July 28, Gela took to social media to address critics in a thread of X posts which she began by comparing those who “pull others down” from those “call out” people over their mistakes.
“There’s a difference between pulling others down and calling them out. The world would be so much better if majority chose to do the latter,” the content creator wrote.
She went on to point out the hypocrisy of some critics, saying: “Nobody is perfect yet so many of you act like you’ve never had any mistakes in your life just cause they aren’t publicized.”
Gela defended her approach to handling criticism by presenting a fairer way to correct others’ mistakes rather than using the past against them.
“It’s not fair to use others’ mistakes against them when you can call them out properly and give them a chance to grow and learn. Isn’t that how it should be?”
In the same thread, Gela addressed a spliced clip from over a year ago that recently went viral, showing her allegedly making light of a question about political dynasties in the Philippines, prompting some netizens to see it a reaction out of “pride” and “arrogance”.
In the video, Gela read the question, “What are your thoughts about political dynasties here in the Philippines?”
To this, she responded, “Pa’no ba ‘yan nasa political dynasty ‘yung pamilya ko?”, which was followed by a laugh and the remark, “Controversial”.
Gela clarified her reaction to the question on the last post on her X thread, “I know the clip from a year ago upset a lot of people, and I understand why. I shouldn’t have answered the question the way I did, or at all.
“I didn’t laugh out of pride or arrogance, it was a nervous response to a question that I knew would be met with criticism no matter how I answered. That was my mistake and I take accountability for how I handled that moment.”
Alonte emphasized her decision to pursue medicine, hoping people will see it as her effort to work her own path different from what her family pursued.
“My decision to pursue medicine does not change my background, but I hope it shows that I am working toward my own path. I can only speak for myself, for my choices, my values, and how I move forward and i hope I get the chance to do that on my own terms.”
“I’ve said what I needed to say and I stand by it. What others say and assume are out of my control but I’ll keep focusing on growing, not arguing,” Gela concluded.
Despite her statements, online criticism persisted with more netizens calling her out for “flaunting” birthday outfits and celebrations amid Biñan citizens still recovering from the impact of recent typhoons, where her father, Angelo Alonte, is currently mayor of.
Others labeled her posts as “out of touch”, “insensitive”, “remorseless”, and “lacking of accountability”.
“Telling the public to be nicer while sitting on generational privilege & taxpayers’ money is peak condescension. Sorry, but this sounds more of a damage control than a genuine remorse. Normalize shaming this kind of entitlement talaga lol,” an X user reacted to Gela’s post.
“Honestly the best you can do sana is to like actually APOLOGIZE and TAKE RESPONSIBILITY and not “publicize” your way of living, kasi it really comes off as insensitive especially since the province your family is serving [is] in mud and waters,” a netizen suggested.
“Bottom line: if you’re part of a system that benefits you unfairly, the least you can do is not make a joke out of it. No one’s asking you to disown your family on [camera], but at least be honest. Be self-aware. Reflect. Don’t brush it off like it’s funny. Kasi hindi nakakatawa,” echoed another X user.
Some netizens even confronted and accused Gela and her family of “closing public roads” just to “accomodate her guests” for her birthday.
One X user, who claimed to be a resident of Binan, supported the allegations, saying, “The world will be so much better if walang katulad niyo na nagpasara ng kalsada dahil lang birthday mo. 😂 I’m from Biñan, that’s why I knew about the road closure.”
Another user shared a screenshot of a comment supporting the allegation, claiming several celebrities were given access through the closed roads to attend the party.
As of writing, Gela has not addressed the specific allegations regarding the alleged road closure for her party.
