Before 'Call Boy' Shade, Mayor Isko Said His Sexy Film Past Was 'Just Work'
Before President Rodrigo Duterte threw shade at him for starring in sexy films before he joined politics, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno looked back on his showbiz past with fondness in a video interview.
Moreno said his time with Seiko Films, the 1990s daring movie house, was just work and there was "no harm done". Then trying to shed his teenybopper image from his "That's Entertainment" days, Moreno was part of the second wave of TF or "Tittilating Film" hunks, starring in such films as "Tukso, Layuan Mo Ako".
In huddle with journalist Ces Drilon on Kumu, Moreno hat tipped fellow Seiko alum Gardo Versoza as his "senior". Now a popular TikToker, Versoza starred in "Machete II" in the mid-1990s, helping launch the TF bandwagon with then sexpot Rosanna Roces.
"Hanapbuhay lang yan, short of saying," Moreno said as Versoza said how their costumes at that time was as skimpy as a leaf, enough to cover their private parts.
"No harm done," said the Manila mayor, who among the frontrunners in the 2022 presidential race, according to opinion polls.
Moreno recalled how during his time at Seiko Films, male actors covered their private parts with Leukoplast brand medical plaster that was so sticky and painful to remove.
"Walang sinabi ang Brazilian," he said.
"Sa Seiko Films noong araw kami ni Gardo, mahal ang tela, tinitipid ang tela," he said.
Moreno laid low in the 2000s, transitioning to public service. His breakthrough in politics came in 2019, when he beat former President Joseph Estrada in the Manila mayoralty race.
Two years into his term as mayor of the Philippines' capital city, he has sought to scrub it clean, literally and figuratively, at one time stepping on feces at Liwasang Bonifacio while the square was undergoing deep cleaning.
Duterte, in his late night address to the nation on Monday, warned one Metro Manila City that he would clip its aid distribution powers since "they cannot organize" and because it was being led by someone that's "parang call boy (like a call boy)."
The President did not name Moreno, but the manila mayor is the only city executive in the capital region with a history of starring in sexy films. Moreno later tweeted photos of awards received by the city under his leadership.
"Iyan ang gusto ninyo? Ang training --- ang training parang --- para lang, parang call boy. Naghuhubad, nagpi-picture, naka-bikini tapos 'yung garter tinatanggal niya, hinila niya tiningnan niya 'yung... Dapat magsali --- magsama sila ni ano ni Paredes," the President said, referring to his critic Jim Paredes whose lewd video went viral in 2019.
"Iyan ang training ng presidente, maghubad at magpa-picture at magsilip, magyabang sa kanilang ari kagaya ni Paredes pati itong g***** ito," he added.
Duterte has also been criticized for his misogynistic remarks in the past, some of which were defended by the Palace as jokes. The President has previously bragged of molesting his maid in his younger years and has publicly kissed a Filipino migrant worker during an event abroad.