NAGSALITA na ang freshman na estudyante ng University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) matapos namang siyang kuyugin sa social media dahil umano sa pambabastos kay Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte matapos ang isinagawang forum noong isang linggo.
Sa isang open letter, iginiit ni Stephen Villena na wala siyang intensyon na magpakita ng kawalan ng respeto kay Duterte matapos magtanong sa isang academic forum.
“It is my hope that by doing so people will realize that I was simply posing an academic question which required an academic answer and I in no way intended to disrespect the good mayor,” sabi ni Villena.
Iginiit ni Villena na dahil sa limitadong oras na ibinigay sa mga estudyante, minadali niya ang pagtatanong kay Duterte para makakuha ng direktang sagot.
Ipinaliwanag ni Villena ipinalabas naman sa pinutol na video na minamadali niya si Duterte na sumagot sa kanyang tanong, samantalang ang kampo ng mayor ang nais makaalis ng maaga.
“Before I took the floor to ask my question it was made clear to us that Mayor Duterte was in a hurry to leave the forum as it was getting late. I therefore rushed my question hoping for an immediate answer. And since I did not get a direct answer to my question I requested him to please answer my question directly ‘para maka-uwi na sya,’” kwento ni Villena.
Idinagdag ni Villena na hindi ipinakita sa video ang kabuuan ng naging usapan nila ni Duterte.
“To be clear, it was Mayor Duterte who was in a hurry to leave. The spliced video that was uploaded to the internet did not show the full exchange between me and Mayor Duterte. The cut video somehow made it appear na pinapauwi ko na si Mayor. Hindi po, sya po ang nagmadali na umuwi….The end result was that the people who only saw the shortened video but did not participate in the forum somehow got the impression that I was bastos, arrogante, walang modo,” giit ni Villena.
Nakatanggap naman ng banta sa buhay si Villena kung saan may mga nagpost pa sa Facebook page ng “RIP Stephen Villena.”