The labor group Partido Manggagawa (PM)
today slammed for cyber libel the blogger Drew Olivar who recently hit the news
for the controversial “Pepedederalismo” video together with PCOO Assistant
Secretary Mocha Uson.
Olivar, in a Facebook post last September
30, 2017 on his “Drew Olivar Blog” accused Ver Estorosas, a PM leader, of absconding
after allegedly receiving P8 million to mobilize people for a September 21,
2017 in Luneta. A picture of Estorosas in a rally was maliciously entitled “WANTED”
in bold letters in Olivar’s blog post.
“Blabber blogger Drew Olivar is not just
an indecent promoter of Pepedederalismo in cahoots with Mocha Uson but is also
a thief of images for the profitable production and distribution of fake news. Ver
Estorosas, as chairman of the PM Bulacan chapter, is not a fugitive but on the
contrary active in leading actions of urban poor for their housing demands and
NutriAsia workers for their job security,” stated Rene Magtubo, PM national
chair.
He added that the group is consulting
with lawyers for the appropriate course of action to defend the rights of
Estorosas and stop Olivar from peddling libelous posts.
Magtubo insisted that “Olivar’s accusation
is an outright lie and a figment of his imagination. He stole the photo from a
rally of housing applicants in NHA Bulacan led by PM that was covered by
mainstream media such as CNN Philippines and Rappler. PM was not even a
participant to the September 21, 2017 rally in Luneta that was called by the
Movement Against Tyranny.”
Olivar’s libelous post was brought to
the attention of PM by members of the workers association BPO Shield (formerly
Inter-Call Center Association of Workers) who dug into Olivar’s account after the
“Pepedederalismo” video went viral.
“The Pepedederalismo video is a waste of
taxpayers’ money that was squeezed from the people through TRAIN. We vow to
mobilize workers and the poor against the charter change campaign of the
Duterte administration. The shift to federalism is a scheme to perpetuate
Duterte and trapos like Gloria Arroyo in power. The answer to mass poverty and
social inequality is system change not charter change. Chicha hindi chacha!,”
argued Magtubo.
“We warn Olivar against stealing more
photos of rallies for his business of peddling fake news,” Magtubo cautioned as
PM today held a mobilization of workers at the Senate in time for the
sponsorship speech by Sen. Joel Villanueva of the security of tenure bill.
August 7, 2018
