2020 is a weird-ass year in all the worse ways. From aliens being real to threats to press freedom, the year has been a rollercoaster—and it’s only May. Wildin’. 

To add to the crazy, the president’s chief legal counsel Atty. Salvador Panelo has lifesize standees of himself. Yes, just like a K-pop or an anime fan would. 

During an ANC interview on May 6, Panelo sat down with the channel to talk about the ABS-CBN shutdown. He explains how shutting down this 65-year-old media franchise is not a repetition of history. In this interview, he also adds: “The president always [does] what the constitution tells him to do.”

That statement alone contradicts President Duterte’s view of the law. “Forget the laws on human rights. If I make it to the presidential palace, I will do just what I did as mayor,” explains Duterte on his campaign on the war on drugs. The mental gymnastics and contradicting rhetoric is nothing new. 

What is new to us, however, are Panelo’s four standees in the background. 

Panelo kept defending the president’s actions; why it’s out of the president’s hands and how it happened under the president’s watch, but it’s still not his fault. As he explains his piece, the four Panelo standees are cheering him on. It’s eerie and plain weird—just like this year.

Read more: A Cebu-based artist was arrested for a satirical post about COVID-19

Do you think he has light sticks of his own face? Or a body pillow, perhaps? At this point, we wouldn’t put it past him. 2020’s motto, after all, is anything is possible.

Read more:
Luzon lockdown stories that will make you check your privilege
While ABS-CBN gets shut down, hold the government accountable for these issues too
Why you should stand with ABS-CBN

Still from ANC