Malabon City Mayor Jeannie Sandoval explained the story behind a viral picture of her braving the floodwaters in a rescue boat with an umbrella on Wednesday. The chief executive on July 24 posted the image on her social media account, but deleted it the next day. It featured a raincoat-wearing Sandoval on a rescue boat while someone behind her held an umbrella.
The floodwaters were almost waist-deep. The city chief was also surrounded by some personnel. The picture made its way to the X (formerly Twitter) platform where it earned some criticisms from online users who thought the mayor appeared to be a “burden” on the rescue operations.
“Pabigat pa ‘to sa rescue [operations] eh...
imbes na marami [pwede] matulungan papayungan, aalalayan, [siya] pa iintindihin,” a Pinoy commented. In an interview with ABS-CBN News , Sandoval explained that they saw two pregnant women who were about to give birth. “Eh medyo malalim na talaga ‘yung dadaanan papunta doon sa Ospital ng Malabon,” she said.
“So, sinakay na lang namin sila sa bangka para makarating...
mahirap naman manganak sila doon sa kalsada, kaya talagang ginawan namin ng paraan para makarating,” Sandoval added. When asked if she was able to read the comments about her picture, the mayor said that it was “just work” for them. “Trabaho lang naman po sa amin ‘yun eh,” the mayor said with a chuckle.
“Basta makakatulong lang naman kami sa mga tao. Kung maayos naman po ‘yung comment, edi okay lang. Pag.