Actress Mae Paner, popularly known as political activist Juana Change, has said that she may not have succeeded in her campaign against the Aquino administration but she is hopeful that there will be real change during the term of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.
“Nag-invest talaga ako dun nuon ng time and pressure. Walang nangyari,” laughed Paner, referring to her opposition to the Aquino government, during an exclusive interview at the Urian Awards recently.
Paner has moved on from criticizing the past administration. Now, she is focused on the Duterte administration.
“While I did not vote for him, I will support him and I hope that in his administration, we can really see kung saan nag-fail ang administration ni PNoy, sa administrasyon naman ni Duterte, sya naman ay magwagi,” said Paner.
Change has been the battlecry of Team Duterte at the height of the political campaign for the May 9 national elections, although Paner said that she was the first one to adopt it.
“Nauna ako gumamit ng change di ba? Juana Change is here!” said Paner.
Asked if she would still be vocal against the Duterte administration, Paner said: Oo naman. Kung saan tayo makakatulong by way of pagpuri kung maganda, pagbatikos kung kailangan natin batikusin. Marami naman tayong pwedeng gawin lalo na ’yung mga taong bumoto sa kanya. Dapat maging vigilant sila para ’yung kanilang manok ay talaga namang umariba sa anim na taon.”
The incoming administration has initially stepped up its war on drugs, crime and even promotes death penalty.
“Personally I’m not for death penalty because our justice system does not really work at hindi ‘yan patas lalo na sa mga taong walang pera, walang access sa power, kawawa naman sila di ba? Tapos andun ka na at ibibitay samantalang hindi ka naman nagkaroon ng sapat na due process,” Paner added.
Paner is also a TV ad director, and a video producer who is one of the organizers of the Artist’s Revolution, a group of local artists who work for the transformation in Philippine politics.
Paner has appeared in several films such as “Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim” (1985), “Wating” (1994), “The Crying Ladies” (2003) and “Hubad” (2008). She is also for the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA).
In 2013, Paner starred in her first full-length sex-comedy film entitled “Juana C.” The Movie” Though comic in nature, the movie tells about fighting corruption, apathy and love of country.
Paner has also done television ads for some politicians who ran in the past elections.
It was on Dec. 4, 2008 when Paner became big after she uploaded her first Juana Change satirical video on YouTube Channel. Her debut video garnered some 500,000 page views in just one week.
Paner has released seven Juan Change projects on YouTube.
She graduated from the University of St. Tomas with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She also attended the Asian Institute of Management.