Maroc - GMANETWORK.COM - A la Une - 19/Jun 10:17

Meet Jose Rizal's descendant, Jeremiah Villaroman

In June 2020, Jose Rizal's descendant Jeremiah Villaroman made rounds online after he revealed that the Philippine Navy had "flagged" his social media accounts because he shared certain content that the organization deemed "inappropriate." Jeremiah, a descendant of Rizal's eldest sister Saturnina Rizal-Hidalgo, and his family were asked to attend the inauguration of a new vessel in honor of the national hero on his 159th birth anniversary. He wrote in Instagram stories, as quoted by Esquiremag.ph, "The Philippine Navy is inaugurating a new vessel in honor of Jose Rizal on the 19th [of June], which happens to be his birthday. And calls were made to me and my cousins to attend, an effort for the younger generation of Rizals to step in as per the palace." "I'm usually always game for functions like this, but I've expressed my reservations for health's sake. But this afternoon, I got a call from my tita, who has been in contact with their team to arrange everything for us. "She mentioned that they did extra background checks on all the names submitted to Malacanang since I think the press will be invited too. "They specifically flagged my social media accounts for sharing certain content that they seem to have deemed 'inappropriate,' requesting that I remain impartial to the current political climate due to the nature of the event I was going to attend on behalf of my family. AKA, take them down." In response, Jeremiah said to his aunt, "I have no intention of staying silent when our basic human rights are being threatened. The man they're attempting to honor fought with a pen and a piece of paper, and I choose to do so with my phone. Count me out." However, Jeremiah is more than the issue he was involved in as he is also a well-known freelance photographer who already worked with A-listers in showbiz like Heart Evangelista, and Miss Universe queens Pia Wurtzbach, and Catriona Gray. Get to know more about Jeremiah Villaroman in this gallery.