PopGirls (photo by Enie Reyes)

The members of the new girl group PopGirls have a playful message to the Jejemons: “mAgbag0w nah P0wH k@y)h! (Magbago na po kayo!)”

During the press conference for their endorsement of Sisters Feminine Napkins, the twins Lai and Mar, Rose, Schai, and Nadine, a.k.a. PopGirls, told Bulletin Entertainment why they do not subscribe to Jejemon mentality.

“May normal naman pong way ng pagsusulat, so bakit ko pahihirapan 'yong sarili ko? Mahirap din po gawin [ang Jejemon] kasi iibahin mo pa 'yong spelling sa nakasanayan mo na. At saka makaka-affect sa writing mo dahil nako-confuse ka sa spelling,” said Shai.

Mar has a theory on why some people have become Jejemons.

“Siguro gusto nila na (only) few people can understand them. That way, kasi, parang special sila. May exclusivity.”

The Department of Education (DepEd) discourages Filipinos from using the Jejemon way of text messaging, even if doing so meets the 160-character limit of a text message page. DepEd Secretary Mona Valisno said the Jejemon way of communication could weaken young people’s language skills.

According to a report by GMA-7, “Jejemon's etymology was supposed to have started from online users' penchant to type in ‘hehehe’ as ‘jejeje,’ either because ‘jeje’ is derived from Spanish, whose speakers denote the interjection as laughter, or because the letters ‘h’ and ‘j’ are beside each other, and that it is appended by ‘-mon’ that came from the Japanese anime Pokémon, with ‘-mon’ meant as ‘monster,’ hence ‘jeje monsters.’”

PopGirls’ Nadine said the Jejemons have been around for years now but have only been given a name recently.

“Parang kung may rakista, may sosyalera, meron ding mga Jejemon. It’s their way of expressing themselves. But me, I don’t use Jejemon [spelling]. I text in straight English. Siguro, the farthest I’d go is to substitute my ‘hehe’ with ‘jeje,’” said she.

Rose said she wasn’t aware she was using Jejemon spelling until a friend pointed it out to her.

“May times po kasi na yung letter ‘o’ ko ginagawa kong zero. Nung nakita nung friend ko, sabi niya, ‘Di mo ba alam na Jejemon yan?’” recounted the young singer.

If her crush texts her using Jejemon [spelling], will she reply?

“Siguro po pero iko-correct ko siya. Madali lang naman po mag-correct.”

The PopGirls practice what they preach. The lyrics of the songs in their debut album under Viva Records are written in straight English and Filipino, including that of their carrier single, “Crazy Crazy.”

The members of PopGirls were picked by no less than Viva big boss Vic del Rosario and famed choreographer Geleen Eugenio. Their album is produced by international producers Christian de Walden and Marcus Davis.

Sisters Feminine Napkins owner Aileen Go said they picked the PopGirls as endorsers for their wholesome and colorful image, which mirrors the youthful themes of puppy love, shopping, dancing, and basically having fun, all of which the brand’s patrons can relate to.