Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has commended Pinoy Ako Blogger (PAB) Jover Laurio for her passion in championing truth and responsibility amid the vicious personal attacks levelled against her by pro-administration apologists and propagandists.
De Lima expressed admiration not only for Laurio’s written works but also for her welcoming personality after the two met inside her detention quarters at the Philippine National Police-Custodial Center, in Camp Crame, Quezon City last Jan. 7.
“How does PAB do it–coming up with 5-6 blogs/posts a day, much awaited and shared by her legions of internet followers, juggling from office work and her studies (good to know she attends law school), and having to contend with vicious bashing? It must be sheer passion and love for it, her own way of preserving sanity in our society today,” she said.
During their first meeting, De Lima shared how Laurio did not fall short of making her feel comfortable, with the Senator describing the latter as “authentic and extremely down-to-earth.”
“No pretensions whatsoever or any air of entitlement. Totoong totoong tao sya. I’ve never felt so at ease with, at the same time ‘all-ears’ to someone I’ve met and talked to for the first time,” she said in a Dispatch from Crame No. 218.
“The moment she saw me, she cried while hugging me. I had to console her by repeatedly saying ‘I’m ok. I’m fine.’ But in no time, laughter and animated conversation filled the room,” the Senator added.
Laurio became a social media sensation as the face behind PAB, which is a site meant to debunk fake news and disinformation in the latest social media updates of some government officials and their propagandists.
Since she started PAB on Facebook in December 2016 and then as a stand-alone site in February last year, Laurio has been on the receiving end of criticism and bashing from pro-Duterte bloggers and netizens.
Laurio was named as one of the “Filipinos of the Year 2017” by the Philippine Daily Inquirer for fighting against the proliferation of fake news, especially on social media.
The Senator from Bicol, who gets to see occasionally some of the online posts from PAB as printed and shown to her by her staff, has nothing but good words for Laurio whose written works are “simple yet evocative.”
“I’ve always been struck and smitten by the pointed logic of her words and the irreverence of her wit. Her knack for the right issues and the right targets of her humorous tirades is almost flawless,” she said.
“So now, I’m a believer. A believer in the power of simple yet evocative words, the power of sincerity over arrogance, of controlled emotions vs. rudeness. PAB’s very authenticity and simplicity makes her credible,” she added.
De Lima has always been a favourite object of fake news and disinformation campaign by the pro-administration’s trolls.