Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) spokesperson Celine Pialago has come under fire for calling a detained activist's burial of her own baby a "drama serye."

Among Pialago's critics were actor Enchong Dee and talent manager Ogie Diaz, who called on her to put herself in the shoes of a grieving mother.

"Masyado ninyong ginagawang pang drama serye sa hapon ang paghihinagpis niya. Tigilan [n'yo]!" Pialago wrote in a Facebook post yesterday, Oct. 18.

(Stop making her grief seem like it was for a soap opera.)

The post, which was was deleted and then uploaded again, was in reference to sympathizers of political detainee Reina Mae Nasino who lost her 3-month-old baby River while she was in jail.

"Ate, makidalamhati ka man lang bilang ikaw ay babae rin at magiging ina ka rin," Diaz chided her. "'Wag puro ganda lang. Maganda din sana kalooban mo sa kapwa mo babae."

(Sister, at least mourn with her because you are a woman and you will be a mother too. Don't focus just on physical beauty. I hope you sympathize with your fellow women.)

https://twitter.com/ogiediaz/status/1317741249189670912

Diaz also stressed that the "drama" came from the police. Twenty police officers were deployed to the burial, while a SWAT team and a firetruck were on standby. The jail escorts refused to remove Nasino's handcuffs so she could embrace her child one last time.

"Ate, itanong mo sa mga pulis kumbakit kailangang isang batalyon sila laban sa isang inang nagdadalamhati. Bakit andami nila eh nakaposas naman yung nanay? So sino dapat mong sisihin kumbakit drama serye na ang dating?" the talent manager said. "Saka ka pumasok sa eksena kung nag-cause yan ng trapik."

(Sister, why don't you ask the police why they needed a whole battalion for one grieving mother. Why did they have to be many when she was handcuffed? So who should you blame for why it looked like a drama series? You should get involved only if it caused traffic.)

https://twitter.com/ogiediaz/status/1317743253358145536

Dee, meanwhile, called Pialago "heartless and unintelligent" for her statement.

"Ilagay mo ang sarili mo sa kalagayan ng isang ina at mangyari ['to sa 'yo]," he said. "Bilang isang tao... [OK] lang talaga [sa 'yo]??"

(Imagine yourself as a mother and this happens to you. As a human being... this is OK with you?)

https://twitter.com/enchongdee777/status/1317779514450092032

Human rights group Kapatid said the police "hijacked every minute" of baby River's burial last Friday, Oct. 16. It said that the hearse with baby River's remains sped away from the funeral home and went straight to the cemetery, with family and supporters left behind at the funeral home.

Nasino, 23, is an urban poor organizer who was arrested in November 2019 at the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) office in Tondo, Manila. She and two other activists were charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, which is a non-bailable offense. However, her lawyers claim that the firearms and ammunition were planted.

Anne Curtis, Agot Isidro and Bianca Gonzalez were among the celebrities who denounced how the burial was handled. "Walang malasakit (No compassion)," said Isidro of authorities' actions. JB

RELATED STORIES:

Anne Curtis, Agot Isidro, fellow celebs denounce 'heavily guarded' burial of Baby River

Leni Robredo lauds Enchong Dee for volunteer work during pandemic