Sheki Arzaga is now named as the new overall captain of MNL48, taking over the position from Alice de Leon, the idol group's previous overall captain and Arzaga's fellow teammate in Team MII.
In a video turnover ceremony posted by the group yesterday in their Facebook page, de Leon reflected on her past duties as its overall captain, which started in 2018 when she was elected by her fellow members for the position.
“For three years since 2018, I am so grateful, blessed and honored that I was voted by the members as the First Overall Captain of MNL48 and the Team Captain of Team MII. I have led almost 200 pretty and talented girls of this generation since day 1 which made my heart flutter and I realized that I need to play the role of being the Captain,” de Leon said.
She remarked that being a captain is a “tough job” and sometimes feel pressured, knowing that she had to lead "over 70 official members with different personalities."
“Being the captain is not an easy job because as the saying goes with 'great power comes great responsibility.' I learned a lot during these times and I hoped that I inspired other people and gave them the motivation to carry on with their life, especially my members,” de Leon said.
“For three years I fulfilled my duties and responsibilities of being the Captain and now that there is a new chapter in our book I am now proud to announce that I will be passing my role to someone that is special to me from," de Leon also added.
She also thanked the members who voted for her for the position last 2018, and to the management who believed in her skills to lead as the group’s overall captain. She later said that she will be "signing off" as the group's overall captain then later bows as a sign of gratitude and respect.
In the same video, de Leon passed the ceremonial pendant of an anchor to Arzaga, signifying the turnover of her duties as the overall captain to the latter. “Keep the fire burning,” de Leon said to Arzaga during the ceremonial pining.
It is still unclear whether de Leon has still retained her position as captain of Team MII.
Meanwhile, Arzaga thanked de Leon for inspiring her as a member, as she looked back at her time as the first-ever center of MNL48, as well as de Leon's tenure as the group's overall leader during that time herself, noting that they became the ‘torch bearers’ back then of the group.
“I’m very grateful that you were there for me. Thank you so much since naging supportive ka sa akin since Day One,” Arzaga said to de Leon.
Fans online celebrated the announcement on Twitter, through the hashtag #MNL48ShekiOverallCaptain, which ranked ninth on the most popular topics on Twitter Philippines, according to MNL48 Trendsetter.
Fans also thanked de Leon for her time as the first overall captain of MNL48, evident with the recently-launched hashtag #KeepSailingMNL48Alice.
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