Abante calls out pro-Duterte vloggers: ‘Think before you post’

Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. told vloggers under House probe to ‘think’ before spreading false information during the lower chamber’s investigation on fake news and trolls on Friday.

“Mag-isip naman kayo! Ang hirap nito Mr. Chair. Itong mga vloggers na ito, ito ang mga t*nga eh,” Abante said to vlogger Mary Jean Reyes – one of the persons invited to the hearing.

The other persons who were invited and took their oath to tell the truth before the House tri-committee were:

Elizabeth Joie Cruz

Former Presidential Communications Office (PCO) secretary Cruz-Angeles

MJ Quiambao-Reyes

Krizette Laureta Chu

Dr. Richard Mata

Dr. Ethel Pineda Garcia

Mark Anthony Lopez

Aeron Peña

The said persons were known as ‘pro-Duterte’ vloggers – online personalities that are associated with the camp of the former president.

The vloggers post content that aims to promote the previous administration and engaging in alleged online bullying and harassment with activists.

Chu, one of the vloggers, has 250,000 followers on Facebook while Reyes has over 273,000 due to the said contents regarding the former president.

Abante went into a heated discussion with one of the vloggers which claimed that extrajudicial killings (EJK) under the Duterte administration’s drug war, were a ‘massive hoax.’

Reyes wrote in a Facebook post that “the anti-Duterte propagandists—likely funded by drug cartels, terrorists, corrupt politicians, greedy oligarchs, and narco-politicians—are desperately trying to manipulate the global narrative. They want you to believe that every young life lost was at the hands of our People's President Rody Duterte . This is a blatant LIE.”

“I’m going to complete [reading] this: ‘the so-called EJK victims under President Duterte a massive hoax.  Sa akin, mali, I have documents to show’.  Right now you show it, please” Abante asked Reyes for evidence supporting her statement.

Reyes replied that her statement came from new information coming out on social media where those allegedly killed in EJK incidents, the parents who showed pictures of their children who died in EJK incidents, were actually not connected to EJK and others are still alive.

“Ang pinagbabasehan ko po doon ay ‘yung mga naglalabasan ngayon na panibagong impormasyon… Kita naman po ito sa social media. Ano po, kung saan ‘yung mga napabilang na EJK, ‘yung mga nagpakita ng picture ng mga anak nila na namatay daw. Actually ay, hindi po connected sa EJK. At ‘yung iba po ay buhay na buhay pa naman po,” the vlogger said.

The lawmaker asked Reyes if she has ever attended a Quad-comm meeting.

“Naga-attend po ba kayo ng Quad-comm hearing? ‘Yung mga biktima ng EJK ay nandoon at nagkaroon pa sila ng prayer rally,” Abante said.

Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano also asked Reyes if she has any copies of the documents supporting her claim.

“Your honor, nasa newspaper na rin po ‘yan,” Reyes replied.

Paduano replied that the House has the lists of EJK victims and stated that the vlogger contradicts an official document by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) by a newspaper with an unknown source.

“It’s in the newspaper, but what I am asking you is what is the source of that newspaper?  Is it an official document or findings of the Human Rights Commission?  Madam, absolutely not, because during our hearing in the quad comm, all those victims, the families present were confirmed by the Human Rights Commission, in fact we have all the list,” the lawmaker told Reyes.

The vlogger said that she will look for supporting documents before writing posts.

“You are accountable to the victims, you are accountable to the House Quad Comm. You disputed the victims. If you do not apologize, I am going to make a motion to hold you in contempt,” Abante told Reyes.

The vlogger apologized and cited that it is her reactions and opinions only.

“Ito po ay mga reaction at opinyon ko lamang. I apologize,” Reyes said.

‘Grilled Chu’

Krizette Laureta Chu, another vlogger and journalist present in the hearing – was also heavily questioned by the lawmakers after her post regarding rumors of Philippine National Police (PNP) officers resigning in response to Duterte’s arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The vlogger-journalist insisted that she was telling the truth of the impressions made on social media by including ‘daw’ or supposed.

“Kaya ako nag-include ng ‘daw’these were just impressions. The fact that our PNP had to write a press release means kami na wala kaming statistics , these were the impressions that were coming to us,” Chu said.

Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre asked Chu if she has ever verified her posts from official sources.

“Yes sir, because there were people, there were already policemen, and I am sure our policemen can also say that there were policemen that are on Tiktok that are voicing out their feelings, so if you could kindly read the rest,” Chu replied.

The vlogger said that she will write a post stating that there are no ‘mass resignations’ after Duterte’s arrest and apologizing for saying ‘bad words’ to the congressmen’s children for supposedly living beyond their means.

The former president was arrested on March 11 for alleged human rights violations regarding his drug war.

The ICC launched an investigation on drug killings under Duterte from November 1, 2011, when he was still mayor of Davao City, to March 16, 2019, as possible crimes against humanity. 

According to government records, at least 6,000 drug suspects were killed in police operations during Duterte’s war on drugs while human rights groups report as high as 30,000.

Acidre said that there should be a ‘clear demarcation’ between personal posts and the focus of the query is to determine the content of the post.

“I think we have to draw the line whether the canons of journalism — especially that Mrs. Krizette Chu is a journalist by profession — that there should be a clear demarcation between personal posts and especially, what should be determined I think Mr. Chair should be the content of the post rather than who the one writing is,” the lawmaker said.

The House hearing came after Sta. Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez said last Wednesday that social media personalities may be cited for contempt if they continue to skip the next hearing and that the lower chamber is allowed by Congress to summon individuals to testify during inquiries in aid of legislation — and any violation of subpoenas can result into the issuance of contempt orders.