He was, however, defended by others, including his fellow celebrities.
One of the major issues in the past week was the circulation of screenshots of video clips that were reposted by actor Joshua Garcia on his TikTok page. Specifically, a video titled My Favorite Highlights from Sara’s Impeachment Trial (Days 1–3).
That clip, which has a million views on the platform is being seen aligned with the narrative of the Vice President Sara Duterte’s camp, especially with the hashtags like DDS (for Duterte Diehard Supporters) present.
In tandem with that, some users also inspected his following list on social media, where it was seen that the Kapamilya star was following some political figures such as the VP and her known ally Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.
Instantly, that caused a stir on social media, with many netizens expressing their disagreement with his political stance. Although, amid the backlash he received, another check onto his account showed that he has unfollowed both political figures from his Instagram account.
Meanwhile, some also expressed their more compassionate take on the matter including actresses Meryll Soriano and Pokwang, who both spoke about it during their guest appearance on GMA’s Fast Talk With Boy Abunda.
“That’s his platform and kung dun siya naniniwala, kaya nga tayo merong freedom of speech. We are free to express our own opinions and voices sa sarili nating platform,” Soriano told.
Pokwang then asked a rhetorical question: “Nagkataon lang kasi na artista si Joshua pero kapag ordinaryong tao ba ‘yan, papansinin mo ba?“
She also doubled down and said, “Karapatan niya ‘yon, hayaan natin siya.”
Senator Robin Padilla, who he starred alongside in the 2017 film Unexpectedly Yours, even posted a clip of their scene in the movie amid the online kerfuffle.
Since then, there has been no public statement from his camp regarding the matter.
Joshua had starred in the ABS-CBN Studios production Love Is Never Gone, which streamed exclusively on Prime Video. In recent years, be was also part of other projects such as Darna: The TV Series, Unbreak My Heart, It’s Okay To Not Be Okay (Philippine adaptation), and Meet, Greet & Bye.
