Dasmariñas city councilor criticized over use of racial slur

In a viral tweet by user @quarkhenares on June 15, City Councilor of Dasmariñas Kiko Barzaga received criticism due to his comments in a post from the ADMU Freedom Wall page. Said comments were included in a series of screenshots in the tweet, capturing the use of a racial slur as an insult, which several Twitter users pointed out as inappropriate. 

“Friends abroad, in case you don’t understand how hopeless the Philippine government is, here are comments of an actual City Councilor casually dropping the N-Word,” the tweet reads. 

Friends abroad, in case you don’t understand how hopeless the Philippine government is, here are comments of an actual City Councilor casually dropping the N-Word. WTF pic.twitter.com/9O62LExHP8

— Quark Henares (@quarkhenares) June 15, 2020

The post where the screenshots came from originated on Facebook. However, the comments included in the screenshots from the posted tweet cannot be viewed anymore.

Among the criticisms over the racist comment, a tweet by user @fanboyerz pointed out “he has to be reminded of his duty as a public official” and that it is an “inexcusable action,” referring to the way he responded to the other comments, including the use of a racial slur.

Speculations regarding the city councilor deleting posts have also surfaced online, with user Cyrus Mestre mentioning it on a Facebook post on June 17.

As of press time, there is still no proper response from the city councilor that addressed the criticism from netizens, especially about his racist remarks. 

Discussions on racism across social media have been prevalent online, along with the Black Lives Matter movement sparking protests against racism across different countries worldwide after the death of George Floyd at the hands of the police in Minneapolis, Minnesota last May 25.