Caveat: disagreement is not disloyalty. So before anyone mistakes this critique as partisan noise, count me out.
When Pamela Baricuatro won as Cebu’s provincial governor, I believed she represented a generational shift, young, bold, and unafraid to challenge tradition. She was, to many, the agent of change. But like most modern leaders, the line between public service and public performance soon blurred.
The first red flag came moments after her victory at the Capitol, when she shouted, “Hawa na diha, Lay!” a clip that went viral. Forgivable, yes. Maybe a moment of euphoria. But it revealed a pattern: Pam’s politics is increasingly powered not by governance but by content.
Almost daily, she floods social media with vlogs and reels, singing, dancing, sometimes throwing shade at her predecessor, ex-Gov. Gwen Garcia. Then came the meltdown: after a netizen criticized her daughter, Pam responded with curses, edited and re-uploaded it several times as if filters could erase accountability.
During calamities, the same trend persisted. Cameras trailed her every move, smiling amid floods, calling officials via livestream, projecting hands-on leadership while betraying a lack of disaster preparedness framework. Everything looked rehearsed for engagement metrics, not emergency protocols.
Then came her commentary on lawyer Regal Oliva’s fallout with the DDS bloc, where she appeared to flirt again with populist imagery, wanting relevance with both sides of the political aisle. Soon after, a potentially scripted scene unfolded: her mingling with rallyists, a “humble leader” photo-op carefully staged for virality.
And just last week, she visited Pinamungajan for yet another content moment. The infamous comfort room project became her next stage, a toilet turned theater of accusations.
Let’s be clear: the Department of the Interior and Local Government-funded project was legitimate, reviewed, and audited. The only thing overpriced was the drama. But instead of clarifying with evidence, she chose to fight through Facebook Live, proof that in today’s politics, clout has replaced credibility.
Governance has now become a digital addiction. The province deserves a leader, not a lifestyle influencer.
Pam, the people of Cebu did not elect a content creator. They elected a governor. Step away from the camera. The province is not your set.
Real public service doesn’t need filters, only focus. And the truest form of leadership begins when the livestream ends.