On the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit today, pro-Duterte blogger and “social media influencer” Sass Rogando Sasot confronted the British Broadcasting Company’s (BBC) Southeast Asia correspondent Jonathan Head, over an Oct. 13 interview with opposition blogger Jover Laurio, who manages the Pinoy Ako Blog (PAB), on a BBC program.
Sasot’s page has more than 555,000 followers, while Laurio has over 116,o00 followers, a fact she felt should have played a role in who the BBC chose to interview.
The videos of the encounter, posted by Tess Termulo, have over 140,000 views.
Sasot and other pro-Duterte Facebook personalities tend to focus their posts on defending the president and criticizing the opposition, including Vice President Leni Robredo.
Laurio’s Pinoy Ako Blog (PAB), along with other similar opposition blogs, defend the vice president and criticize President Rodrigo Duterte and his supporters.
Both sides have taken personal swipes at each other.
According to media reports, the confrontation happened when Head came over to greet Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson.
“Tell me, Mr. Jonathan, how is it possible that Jover Laurio, a very minor blogger in the Philippines, was featured by the BBC in order to defend herself against the people who outed her identity, but not someone like me, whose social media following is way, way higher than her, whose Facebook engagement is way, way higher than her, and who you have even interacted with on Facebook?” Sasot asked Head, who clearly did not understand what a big deal she is.
She also took the opportunity to tell Head that she believes media coverage of Duterte has been biased or one-sided — a view shared by many of the president’s supporters.
“Do you know that a lot of overseas Filipino workers are doing everything in order to combat the lies being peddled by mainstream media, including Rappler, Inquirer, ABS-CBN?” she continued. “And I know that international media is only getting its feed from these people because they have power, resources, and connections to do this. You know, a lot of people are insulted that you are only covering one side of the story.”
“That’s not true. We have covered many sides,” Head told Sasot, and he explained that he would like to sit down with Sasot and engage her in a conversation in a more private setting.
Despite the tense confrontation, both parted ways politely, according to local news website InterAksyon.
“It was nice talking to you,” Head told Sasot, who is currently on vacation in Manila from her graduate studies at The Hague.
“Yeah, nice talking to you to,” she replied.
