MANILA, Philippines – Netizens slam an official of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) after a series of posts against a blogger, where she criticized not only the latter’s politics but her appearance.
On Friday, October 13, the woman behind Pinoy Ako Blog, a blog critical of the administration, has revealed herself as Jover Laurio. (READ: ‘Who’s behind Pinoy Ako Blog?‘)
On the same day, DSWD Assistant Secretary Lorraine Badoy said on a post on Facebook: “If there is anything at all that the unmasking of the hideous creatures behind the poison anonymous blogs teaches us, it is this: YOU GET THE FACE YOU DESERVE.”
The next day, Badoy, a staunch defender of President Rodrigo Duterte on social media, wrote an insult-laden blog about an “unseen hand” who was “behind the million and one ways the President of the Republic has been attacked.”
To demonstrate the power of this “unseen hand,” Badoy used how Laurio was being sold as a “heroine a mere hours after she admitted to being the fiend behind the poison blog that peddled lies to the Unthinking,” as an example.
She then went on to say that Laurio’s “ugliness is extraordinary…The dirt in her pusod (navel) is extraordinary. And so is the libag (dirt) in her kili kili (armpit).”
Badoy included two photos of Laurio in a bathing suit, and referred to the latter as “JoverGanda.” (JoverBeautiful)
Many found the post distasteful, saying that insults on physical appearance should have no place in political discourse.
Reactions – Curated tweets by rapplerdotcom
Badoy’s defenders online argued that Laurio threw the first insult on looks.
Jover is free to express her opinion on her space without neccessarily posting pictures of Badoy with an insulting caption.
— Prime (@iamleeback) October 16, 2017
Di ba unang nilait ni Jover si Dr. Badoy?
— AamOffshore (@aam_offshore) October 14, 2017
Timeline, however, shows this is not necessarily true.
A blog written by Laurio on August 29 refers to Badoy as “hindi ka naman kagandahan noong hindi ka pa naretoke” (You were not pretty when you haven’t had your surgery yet). It was in response to Badoy’s August 9 post insulting the appearance of those against the president.
Netizens also pointed out that Badoy is a government official unlike Laurio, which means she is subject to follow civil servants’ code of conduct.
Code of conduct – Curated tweets by rapplerdotcom
Republic Act 6713 said that public officials and employees “shall perform and discharge their duties with the highest degree of excellence, professionalism, intelligence and skill,” and “act with justness and sincerity and shall not discriminate against anyone.”
This is not the first time that Badoy has been in hot water for her posts. In March 2017, Badoy sarcastically told the EU in a Facebook post: “Iyong mga taga-EU, mag-online child porn muna kayo. D’yan naman kayo magaling eh.” (Those in the EU, just engage in online child pornography. Since that’s what you are good at.) (READ: ‘DSWD exec tells EU: ‘Mag-child porn muna kayo‘ )
Her statement, which drew flak online, was part of sarcastic advice she addressed to Duterte’s critics, including Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, as she stressed the Filipino people’s “unstoppable” approval of the President. –Rappler.com
There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.