UNWELCOME. The General Santos City Council declared singer Leah Navarro on Tuesday (Nov. 5, 2019) as persona non grata over her comment in the social media that the recent earthquakes in Mindanao were a “retribution.” The council, in a resolution passed during its regular session (in photo), said Navarro’s “despicable behavior” insulted the sensibilities of the people of Mindanao and deserved rebuke and condemnation. (PNA photo by Richelyn Gubalani)

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- Veteran singer Leah Navarro is no longer welcome here.



This, as the City Council declared Navarro, a known opposition supporter and critic of President Rodrigo R. Duterte, persona non grata during its regular session on Tuesday over her comment in the social media that the recent earthquakes in Mindanao were a “retribution.”



Calling Navarro’s comment as “un-Filipino and un-Christian,” the council maintained that her “despicable behavior” insulted the sensibilities of the people of Mindanao and deserved rebuke and condemnation.



It said the singer had no basis to call the earthquakes as retribution, which means a “punishment inflicted on someone as a vengeance for a wrongful or criminal act.”



Navarro earlier answered “Retribution?” to former Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te’s question on Twitter: “What’s with all the earthquakes in Mindanao?”



“Leah Navarro has no factual or moral basis to accuse the people of Mindanao of having committed any wrongful or criminal act that deserves punishment from the Great Almighty,” the council said.



The resolution noted that Mindanaons have even extended help to Luzon when Mt. Pinatubo erupted and to Visayas during Super Typhoon Yolanda and the Bohol earthquake.



The Council said Navarro, whom it described a “self-styled moralist who fancied herself as the guardian of all good and beautiful,” has brazenly displayed her disdain for Mindanaoans and her callous reaction to the tragedy was borne out of her “irrational politically-motivated anger.”



“She deserves no less the widest and deepest denunciation by the people who suffered from physical and psychological trauma,” the resolution said.



Aside from declaring Navarro as persona non grata, the Council said it will not issue a permit to any event that will feature her as performer.



City Councilor Frankin Gacal Jr., author of the resolution, said in his sponsorship speech that Navarro’s “retribution” comment likened Mindanao to a land of sinners.



“The island of Mindanao may not be the land of saints but I can probably say this land is a land that have lived in accordance with the will of God Almighty,” he said.



He said the quakes that jolted Mindanao caused so much untold miseries to residents, with thousands losing their homes and even access to drinking water.



“While our brothers and sisters were in agony, some wicked souls have reveled and jumped in joy. One of these is Leah Navarro,” Gacal said.



Councilor Rosalita Nuñez, a former mayor, said she does not want Navarro to ever set foot in the city.



“She will just be rebuked and might get insulted by the people here,” she said. (PNA)