Resigned University of the Philippines (UP) executive vice president Teodoro Herbosa hit what he called a “troll army” that he said seemed to have fueled the continuing online backlash over his insensitive “death by community pantry” tweet last week.

In a Laging Handa press briefing on Monday, April 26, Herbosa said he posted the controversial tweet from the vantage point of an expert in disaster medicine. It was not meant to attack the community pantries that have spread nationwide, he said.

“Bawal na ba ako tumuligsa sa mali? Ang sinasabi ko lang ay totoo… Noong gabi ay tuloy-tuloy na ‘yun. Nag apologize ako pero lalong umigting. Sabi ko mukhang may troll army. Kasi yung mga tumutuligsa sa akin ay mga new accounts lang, anonymous accounts lang,” he said. Herbosa serves as special adviser in the National Task Force Against COVID-19.

(Was it wrong for me to denounce mistakes? What I said was a fact. The attack I received that night went on. I apologized but the attacks intensified. I told myself, there’s a a troll army because those attacking me are new and anonymous accounts.)

Herbosa’s controversial tweet – “Death by ‘community pantry.’ I told you so!” – angered Filipinos, prompting him to issue a public apology on Facebook on Friday, April 23. He said he should have phrased his comment better and added that he had filed a leave of absence to reflect on the “misstep.”

On Sunday, April 25, UP announced his resignation as executive president, a post he has held since 2017.

Herbosa said Monday that he received thousands of hate messages after the tweet that he made in reaction to reports of an elderly man who died while waiting in line at a community pantry organized by actress Angel Locsin in Quezon City.

‘Blame culture’

“Ang masasabi ko hindi ako kontra sa pantry. Ang kontra ako ay pinabayaan nila na mamatay ang ating mga kababayan roon. Pinabayaan nilang pumila sa init ng araw, walang baso, walang tubig na maiinom. May mali na ginawa tayo roon. Kailangan mag ayos tayo,” he said.

(What I can say is that, I am not against community pantries. What I opposed was that they just let someone died. They just let people queued under the heat of the sun, no glass, no water for them to drink. We have a mistake on that. We need to fix that.)

“Sa disaster medicine, systems ang thinking natin. Hindi dapat blame culture. Importante na ayusin natin ang systema. At ako ay nag su-suggest lamang ng sistema,” he added.

(In disaster medicine, we think in systems, not blame culture. It’s important that we fix the systems. I was only suggesting a system.)

Herbosa also said he was saddened that some of his UP colleagues bashed him on social media without getting his side of the story first.

It’s not the first time that Herbosa posted a tweet that angered citizens.

In October 2020, he shared a rape joke on Facebook, prompting him to issue a public apology. He said then that he would undergo a gender sensitivity seminar to “make amends” for his mistake.

As task force adviser, Herbosa has defended the government’s response to the pandemic while the country experienced record-high surges in COVID-19 cases.

In March, he said that the Philippine government has done a “fairly good job” in managing the public health crisis, supporting Malacañang’s self-assessment that its response to the pandemic was “excellent.”

He had also defended President Rodrigo Duterte and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III from criticisms of poor management of the pandemic.

Herbosa was the co-lead of the UP Pandemic Response Team, which advised the government in decision-making regarding COVID-19. – Rappler.com