After netizens reacted to the expensive pair of shoes bought by Sen. Grace Poe’s son Brian Poe Llamanzares, both Poe and Llamanzares spoke about the issue.
The issue began when Llamanzares posted an Instagram photo of himself wearing a limited edition pair of Nike Mag 10 shoes, a recreation of an iconic pair worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part II. Only 1,500 were made, and were sold for $2,300 (roughly P98,900) and $9,959 (roughly P428,237) on eBay. Netizens reacted negatively towards Poe and Llamanzares, noting their lavish lifestyle.
Days after, Poe issued a statement, saying that her son has the purchasing ability to buy the pair. She said:
“You will recall that my son has been holding a job with a television news network, and just took a leave in view of the election season in order to protect the network’s objectivity.”
She added that she and her husband taught their children the values of hard work and saving, but that they couldn’t stop Brian if he really wanted to buy the shoes.
“He saved up for that a long time. Even if assuming I was not agreeable to it, it made him happy. He has a right to it. Why should we stand in the way?”
Brian also released a statement, apologizing for offending people with his purchase.
“I apologize if anyone was offended by my shoes, it was never my intention to upset anyone. I just wanted to buy myself something after saving up for months. I don’t know much about shoes and I’m not exactly a sneaker expert so when I saw these online (at P10,000) and I liked the design, I saved up and bought the shoes.
Sneaker store Sole Slam issued a series of tweets, arguing that Llamanzares’s shoes are fake. Sole Slam is run by Antonio Aguirre, one of the respected sneakerheads in the country. However, neither Poe or Llamanzares have commented on the authenticity of the shoes.
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