The Filipino reading public is not dumb indeed

Nora Aunor

Superstar Nora Aunor is again the talk of the town after posing in the October 2011 issue of YES! Magazine with a cigarette in her hand. Because of this, Aunor has been receiving criticisms from many people and personalities who support humanitarian advocacy. The Philippine Medical Association (PMA): an organization that supports a "Smoke-Free Philippines" as well as the running priest, Father Robert Reyes believes that Aunor's photo conveys a bad image of artists.

This prompted Reyes to tell Aunor, "The Filipino reading public is not dumb. If you want to be popular again, be wholesome. Gusto [mo] ba gayahin ka namin? Ang trabaho n'yo is to inspire us, not to scandalize us." He also added, "Nora, you are ill-advised. You think you are moving forward, it's a step backwards."

Meanwhile, YES! editor-in-chief Jo-ann Maglipon defends the superstar. "She speaks now, against perceived hurts, about her sexuality, about her children. She also smokes. This new openness is her chosen expression of whom she is today, and that is the reason I chose that photograph. It captures her," stated Maglipon. "In a perfect world, we will not have anyone smoking or drinking or gambling or lying. Not just in magazines, but out there in the real world, there is the very real concern with freedom of expression, which not even the most well-meaning advocate should trample on," she added. Maglipon later emphasized that the magazine supports the "Smoke-Free" campaign. [ABS-CBN News]

On the other side, Anne Curtis looks smoking hot on the cover of ROUGE Magazine. Curtis also holds a cigarette on the cover. ROUGE Magazine refused to comment about it, while Curtis is currently out of the country with her boyfriend Erwan Heussaff.

Anne Curtis

People are condemning Nora Aunor and Anne Curtis for posing in magazines with cigarettes in their hands, but they are not condemning the countless celebrities who pose sexy in magazines and billboards who wear almost nothing. They are not condemning the actors and actresses who hold guns, bombs, knives on nationwide TV for the masses to see. These craze are promoting promiscuity, aggression, and violence. I would rather be a smoker than be promiscuous, aggressive, and violent.

I earnestly pray that the common sense of these people will hit them on their heads so they'll have a clue that there are many bigger problems in this forsaken country that we should give careful attention and act upon. Open your eyes! Look around! They are EVERYWHERE. (0_0)

And yes, the Filipino reading public is not dumb. We know what's right and what's wrong; what’s bad and what's WORSE because WE ARE NOT DUMB. So don't you play dumb, father dear.