‘Inutos lang sa ‘kin’: Ai-Ai delas Alas apologizes to QC mayor Joy Belmonte over Darryl Yap video

MANILA, Philippines – Ai-Ai delas Alas has apologized to Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte over a video where she portrayed a character named Ligaya Delmonte – a clear parody of the mayor.

The actress’ apology comes eight months after being declared persona non grata in the city. 

In an interview on Fast Talk with Boy Abunda on February 10, Ai-Ai explained that she did not mean any offense, and that she was only doing as she was told.

“Nung ginawa ko po ‘yun, bilang artista po, tapos sila naman ang gumawa ng script nun, si direk at saka sila, tapos ako ‘yung artista,” she said.

(I did that as an actress, and the director and others did the script. I was the actress.)

She added that she even asked for parts of the script to be edited because she thought Belmonte would be offended.

“But since ‘yun na nga, na-offend siya, pasensiya na, Mayora, na ako pala ay nakasakit sa ‘yo. Pero artista lang ako, kumbaga kaya ginawa ko ‘yun kasi inutos lang sa ‘kin,” she said.

(But since she got offended, I’m sorry, Mayor ,that I hurt you. But I’m just an actress. I only did that because I was told to do.)

She also laughed at Belmonte patching things up with the video’s director Darryl Yap before her, and jokingly implored the mayor to stop being angry at her because they resembled each other.

Ai-Ai and Darryl were declared personae non gratae in Quezon City in June 2022, on the basis that the video they made defaced the city’s official seal. – Rappler.com