SAN FRANCISCO, California (The Adobo Chronicles, San Francisco Bureau) – Twitter’s blue checkmark, the symbol of prestige and popularity, has disappeared from the accounts of many netizens since Elon Musk’s social media platform required a monthly payment of $8 for the verification status.

A random check on the who’s who in Philippine social media revealed that some of the rich and famous opted not to pay what is the equivalent of about P450 a month.

Initially, broadcast journalist Karen Davila complained about the disappearance of her verified status, asking if she had to pay for it. She eventually did pay, so she has her blue checkmark back.

Showbiz personality Alden Richards kept his blue checkmark. We can’t verify if Elon Musk opted to keep his verified status because of his huge following, or if Richards voluntarily chose a monthly debit from his GCash account.

But lo and behold, political analyst Richard Heydarian takes pride in not having the checkmark and boasted that he got his account verified in other platforms — for free! Must be difficult for him to part with P450!

And Maria Ressa — Nobel Laureate? Whoa! Is she trying to be frugal with her Nobel prize money or the foreign investments in Rappler?

What about Senator Cynthia Villar, that LGBTQ basher and real estate mogul who recently figured in an outburst over a fence set up in a subdivision in Metro Manila? Do the rich get richer because they refuse to pay their dues?

Then, we have Raissa Robles and Jover Laurio, the Mariteses of social media. Well, we knew all along they were “cheap.”

So, what gives?