In the March 12 episode of the noontime show “It’s Showtime!,” host and actor Vhong Navarro faced massive backlash for the timing of his spiel, in which he used the word “deserve” following the arrest of former Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Alongside him were hosts Ogie Alcasid and Kim Chiu, the latter of whom also found herself involved in the issue for using the same word and adding context that aligned with the current event, which had evidently shaken the nation.
Viewers found it to be telling when Navarro hinted on the matter with the line, “Parang may iba sa ngiti niyo ngayon [There’s something different about your smiles today], to which co-host Alcasid replied, “Oo nga [Yes indeed].”
He continued his spiel with the next lines, “Sa kabila ng gulo at ingay, sana mahanap niyo ang inyong dahilan ng paghinga… at ang inyong pahinga ay ‘I say… deserve niyo ‘yun.’” [On the other side of the mess, hopefully you can find your own reason to rest… and your next breath is to say… ‘you deserve it’”]
Chiu, on the other hand, continued the narration for the segment with her part voicing, “At para naman sa mga feeling nila ay hindi pa dumadating ang tamang panahon para sa kanila… Ang masasabi namin, deserve” (For those who feel like the right time hasn’t come for them yet… What we can say is, deserve”).
While the co-hosts kept up with the beat of the show with enthusiastic energies, this would slowly bring them to an aftermath where some viewers had fallen upset and made sure to let them know their displeasure.
Acclaimed supporters of the former president disapproved of the hosts’ banter and were quick to comment on the timely remarks when a user on TikTok, followed by many others, shared the clip of the show’s segment where Navarro and Chiu exchange their lines.
Navarro took to X (formerly Twitter) to clarify that he had no bad intentions, reiterating that he was simply on the job and reading off of a script from the teleprompter. He shared the exact copy of what he had been tasked to say.
Ako po ay nagtatrabaho lang at binasa ko lang ang spiels ko. Wala po akong masamang intensyon. Love and peace! pic.twitter.com/Xu6JJIkTeC
— Vhong Navarro (@VhongX44) March 12, 2025
Chiu also published a statement on her own Facebook page, encouraging others to pray for each other’s peace above all after the hate she had gotten from the spiels.
Addressing the source of the false claim, Kim Chiu wrote, “Sir, huwag po kayong mandamay sa nanahimik na tao [please don’t drag innocent people into this.]. May God bless you and your family, and your peace of mind.”
While social media users backed the talents from the backlash with the reasonable defense of simply being hosts that needed to deliver their lines, the segment had undeniably caused a stir with the recent events that have occurred regarding the former leader and have left many audiences of both opposing and supporting sides to comment.
Nonetheless, both Navarro and Chiu ultimately promoted love and peace to the public after taking to their platforms in attempts to clear their case.
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