“It was an honest mistake, it was never my intention to enable one of the most horrifying acts here on Earth,” Donnalyn Bartolome wrote on Facebook after being called out on her baby-themed photos. The actress opted for the theme to celebrate her 28th birthday, which was not taken lightly by netizens. “Almost a million people across [social media] platforms thought of it light and funny because they know my personality and didn’t look at it that way. Hence, our initial reaction to the idea was the same. But, upon reading other people’s perspectives, I completely agree. I feel terrible, sick to my stomach, and had disturbing flashbacks I’d rather not say,” she explained.
The now-deleted photos and vlog contained the “Kakaibabe” singer’s birthday pictorial where she dressed as a baby. It was inspired by babies’ monthly milestone photos, in what they described as “sweet and seductive”. Before taking them down, Bartolome said she had to copyright them first to prevent them from further being spread. “I couldn’t remove my post right away because I needed to copyright the photos to prevent the spread of it furthermore until I got a go signal from Facebook and other [social media] managers, an assurance that they know I am the owner of the photo and they’ll help me correct this by taking down all of the posts involving this photoshoot. You may help us by sending the links of the post to anyone who reposted this for any reason at all (via message),” she wrote.
She even shared how extremely overprotective she was when it comes to her siblings. “I was called crazy for being overprotective to all of my siblings, ones I took care of since they were babies. It has come to the point where I had to go to a psych to understand my actions because the level of protectiveness was quite extreme, all I’m saying is I’ve taken care of children since I was 11 years old, this was the last thing I would ever intend to do,” Donnalyn clarified.
Then, she thanked everyone for calling her attention so she could address the issue. “Thank you to everyone who let me know, especially those who did it so kindly, you’re the type of people who help me become a better person every day as I hold the responsibility of influencing millions. It’s not easy.. but I’ll do my best,” she promised. “While you’re here. I’d like to use this attention for those who want to help abused children. There is a care facility I was admitted to when I was a minor: Nayon ng Kabataan. The children admitted there carry so much pain, you can donate or send them little gifts to make them feel better. Thanks, everyone, and I’m sorry.”
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