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Lea Salonga breaks silence on viral outburst: I never cursed the Philippines

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/tvpatrol/06/17/lea-salonga.jpg"/><figcaption>Broadway star Lea Salonga performed the theme song of the 30th SEA Games, which was hosted by the Philippines in 2019. <em>SEA Games</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — Lea Salonga broke her silence on Monday, a week after her viral Facebook posts lamenting issues besetting the country drew both criticisms and support, and at one point making, &quot;I stand with Lea Salonga,&quot; top local Twitter trends.</p><p>In a series of tweets, the Broadway star clarified a particularly controversial post, in which she wrote, &quot;Dear Pilipinas, p***** ina, ang hirap mong mahalin.&quot;</p><p>Aside from that statement, Salonga&#x27;s successive posts last week also pertained to the administration-backed anti-terror bill, which she criticized, and rape culture, in light of a police station&#x27;s advice for women to dress appropriately to avoid sexual assault.</p><p>&quot;I stand by every single word I wrote as an expression of my frustration with certain events currently taking place in our country,&quot; she said on Monday. &quot;However, contrary to what some of you might believe, I never, NOT EVER, cursed the Philippines.&quot;</p><p>&quot;To serve her is one of my greatest honors. To be able to hold my head up high and say, &#x27;Yes, I am Filipino&#x27; representing the hundreds of millions of brethren both here at home and all over the world is a source of pride and pleasure.&quot;</p><p>Salonga, 49, is recognized on the world stage, with an international career spanning 42 years across stage, film, music, and television.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">To serve her is one of my greatest honors. To be able to hold my head up high and say, “Yes, I am Filipino” representing the hundreds of millions of brethren both here at home and all over the world is a source of pride and pleasure. 3/</p>— Lea Salonga (@MsLeaSalonga) <a href="https://twitter.com/MsLeaSalonga/status/1274945921416073217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 22, 2020</a></blockquote><div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>&quot;To further clarify,&quot; she continued, &quot;I didn&#x27;t say p- i- mo, or p- i- ka. If that was what I meant, I would&#x27;ve been explicit in my expression. My p- i- was aimed at no one in particular, and was used only as an outburst, a cry. My apologies if I hurt your feelings with my choice of words.&quot;</p><p>&quot;If after following this post you still decide to cuss me out, you&#x27;re well within your right to do so. I totally understand and get that you&#x27;re doing it as one tasked to protect our country from anyone that dares to desecrate it. Know though that that was not my intent.&quot;</p><p>Salonga&#x27;s viral comments, seen by some as critical of the administration, made her the target of mudslinging by online trolls. Noticing this, fans of the singer came to her defense and launched &quot;I stand with Lea salonga,&quot; which within minutes became the No. 1 Philippine trend on Twitter.</p><p>&quot;To my fans and friends that have my back,&quot; Salonga wrote on Monday, &quot;you have no idea the amount of appreciation I hold in my heart for your tireless efforts to explain my side of things. Thank you so much. You will always have my gratitude.&quot;</p><p>As Salonga finally addressed the controversy, another round of vocal support from her fans was felt on Twitter. Ranking among the local trends as of Monday afternoon was, &quot;Still Standing with Lea.&quot;</p>