Shaun Pelayo, a Filipino-British model who recently strutted the runway at the Bench Body of Work show, expressed his disappointment at what he described as the lack of acknowledgement for his efforts to promote the island province of Siquijor.
Since coming back to the Philippines a few years ago, Pelayo claimed he has been promoting the island in his social media posts.
“Ako, promoting the island again pero walang acknowledgement,” he stated during a Facebook live.
His wife, content creator Crissa Liaging, also known as Life of Habibi, concurred, saying that Pelayo was even involved in getting Bench to Siquijor for their most recent commercial photo shoot.
Although the said Facebook live can no longer be viewed on his page, some social media users were able to reupload the part where the model was asking for acknowledgment.
Instead of receiving acknowledgement, they drew backlash after their remarks on the said live in promoting Siquijor.
The couple then instead drew backlash online rather than getting the acknowledgement they were asking for.
One user wrote, “I think you should start talking about the issue that you basically started on your live, for seeking acknowledgement from Siquijor after endorsing the island, specially now that some people are wishing ill to Crissa’s son.. be a man and break the silence..”
Another user wrote, “Even if you don’t promote Siquijor, it’s already well-known, why are you asking for gratitude in return?
A third user wrote, “Siquijor has long been known for its beautiful beaches, stunning waterfalls, and the iconic ‘love potion.’ Tourists have been visiting for years long before that couple became publicly known!”
More social media users have expressed their disappointment with the content creators pointing out that Siquijor has already been famous even way before they promoted the province.
Pelayo then made another post on his page that features a bible verse from Luke that has “King James Version” in parenthesis that somewhat hints an apology for his recent comments on his Facebook live which can no longer be seen in his page.
While the model made a post that insinuates an apology, Pelayo and Life of Habibi have not yet issued a statement addressing the issue directly as of this writing.
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