Filipino Singer Told He Wasn’t Allowed to Speak Filipino at a Filipino Mall Event

A Filipino band vocalist recalls what happened at a recent mall show event he did where the management imposed one rule: No Filipino language.

Yael Yuzon, the lead vocalist of the Filipino band “Spongecola”, went through hoops when he was hired to perform at the LG G6 launch at an SM Mall – the biggest and most famous chain of malls in the Philippines.

Yuzon said that he ended up translating his Filipino song “Jeepney” because the mall management said that he was not allowed to sing Filipino songs at the said event, reported Rappler.

The singer confessed that the experience was like going through an “obstacle course” since he ended up doing an impromptu translation.

“Technically, I’m not allowed to speak in Filipino, so I’m going to translate this song for you,” the singer told the audience.

Though Yuzon did not really mind, saying it was weird but fun, many were disappointed with SM Mall’s language policy. In defense, the SM management released a statement and said it was all just a misunderstanding.

“We apologize for the miscommunication regarding the performance of Spongecola at SM Megamall. Yes we do encourage global language in the mall but we do not disallow OPM’s without explicit lyrics. The concern is the loud drums that cause noise pollution to the shoppers and may cause inconvenience to both tenants and shopper,” the statement said.

The management added that they are looking into the matter and are willing to reach out to parties that were offended.

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