‘Popoy’ or Piolo? Marcoleta gets his movie quips wrong
Sagip party list Rep. Paolo Marcoleta got his movie references mixed up when he made a manifestation during the justice committee hearing at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
As the panel resumed deliberations on the two impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, Marcoleta challenged the committee to open the sealed box from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) containing Duterte’s tax records—but with solid legal basis.
He said that, like a certain “Popoy” who asked for an acceptable reason why he was being dumped by his girlfriend, there should also be a strong case for opening the box.
“I dare the committee to open the box, but with a caveat: Ensure that you will not violate the law. As Popoy said in the movie, ‘I deserve an explanation, I deserve an acceptable reason.’ Please be sure that if you open this, you have an acceptable reason in accordance with the law,” said Marcoleta.
Who’s that Popoy?
The lawmaker was apparently referring to a character played by actor John Lloyd Cruz in the hit movie “One More Chance” and its sequel, “A Second Chance.”
However, the line Marcoleta quoted actually came from another actor in an entirely different movie. It was from Piolo Pascual, in a scene with costar Toni Gonzaga in the 2014 film “Starting Over Again.”
The misplaced reference was not lost on Akbayan party list Rep. Percival Cendaña.
“Apologies because I know that the people have been waiting for our decision on whether we should open the box, but Rep. Marcoleta mentioned a line of Popoy from the movies. He attributed that ‘I deserve an explanation’ line to Popoy. It is not from Popoy,” Cendaña said, making his own manifestation.
“This is from Piolo Pascual, in the movie ‘Starting Over Again.’ And I hope as we decide on this matter, this will not lead us to starting over again,” he added.
Even the chair
Marcoleta, however, was not the first person at the hearing to make references to Popoy. The character was first mentioned by the committee chairperson herself, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, in questioning why Duterte’s camp had been asking them to refrain from looking into Duterte’s bank records.
Luistro brought up a catchphrase—“Ingat” (be safe or be careful)—made famous by Cruz in a medicine commercial.
“Regarding the revelations from AMLC (Anti-Money Laundering Council), especially the P6.7 billion, they did not say that the numbers were wrong or not, but their advice was for us to ‘be cautious.’ Mag-ingat daw tayo,” said Luistro.
“Mag-ingat? That made me remember Popoy, whose love we felt when he advised us to take care. But here, their advice does not seem to stem from a place of concern, but appears to be a warning—or maybe even a threat,” she added.
The pop culture quotes made for a light moment during the otherwise serious proceedings, which later also discussed the death threats made by Duterte against President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and then Speaker Martin Romualdez.
The Vice President issued the threats during a profanity-laced media briefing she held online in November 2024. The incident was among the impeachable offenses alleged in the complaints.
