MANILA, Philippines - Much has been said about ''the rude passenger'' of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) who was caught on video berating a lady guard and screaming what may well be one of the biggest buzzwords of the year: ''Amalayer?'' (''I'm a liar?'')
Several celebrities, as expected, have weighed in on the issue. We compiled some of their tweets-some full of wisdom, others of fun, overall, worth an RT-and classified them according to the lessons we can learn from this brouhaha.
1. Proper values should be practiced at all times.
Saab Magalona: ''I just saw this #AMALAYER video. Grabe talaga. Practice humility even if you believe you are right.''
Maxene Magalona: ''I don't need to know her side of the story. Whether she is RIGHT, she has NO RIGHT to treat people that way. #AMALAYER.''
2. Don't judge, especially when you don't know the whole story.
Internet sensation Jamich: ''Condemn the act not the person. #AMALAYER.''
Kris Aquino: ''wish we saw what lady guard accused her of so we'd know if provoked.''
3. Something good can still come out of unpleasant experiences, such as lessons.
Bianca Gonzalez: ''i guess the #amalayer incident is a reminder to all of us to keep our cool and never to scream at others. and yes, apologies are in order.''
Ping Medina: ''Kids, never bully even if you're 'educated'. Ten years from now, our security guards can talk back in English #AMALAYER.''
4. Ever-witty Pinoys can make something comic out of even the craziest or most dramatic situations.
Alessandra de Rossi: ''amagades, amaperfek, amattractive, amappealing, amalluring, amalayer. peace to all mankind. CHOZ.''
Megan Young, tweet-singing to a Meredith Brooks song: ''Amahell amadream amanothinginbetween RT @diefrias: Amabeach, amalayer, amachayld, amamader, amasinner, amaseynt.. Ay dunat fil asheymd.''
John Lapus, recalling his old segment on the defunct ''Showbiz Central:'' ''Aba, kilala ng friend ko si #Amalayer. Pwes, sasalang ko sya sa #Dontlietome. #MightAsWell hahaha.''
Postscript
The girl in the viral video, Paula Jamie Salvosa, has become an overnight sensation through the one-minute footage, uploaded by a certain Gregory Paulo Llamoso on Nov. 13 via Facebook-but not that she's proud of it. In an interview on GMA-7's ''24 Oras'' on Wednesday, Paula lamented that it has taken a toll on her and her family.
''I wanted to keep mum about the whole thing but sobra na po, bugbog na bugbog na 'ko. Everybody commits mistakes. May perfect po ba sa mundo? Wala naman eh,'' said she.
Having deactivated her social media accounts, Paula clarified that she doesn't own the @paulaharlow account which many believe to be hers.
Santolan LRT station lady guard Sharon Mae Casinas, in a separate interview, claimed she politely requested Paula to place her bag through x-ray machine for inspection. However, the latter supposedly elbowed her. Paula, meanwhile, claimed that it was the lady guard who first scolded her and dragged her by the left arm.
Despite the untoward incident, the lady guard has apologized ''for whatever action that she had committed deemed offensive by the passenger concerned,'' as seen in a statement released by the LRT Authority. Paula has also expressed willingness for reconciliation.
