UP student council slams blogger

THE University of the Philippines’ student council on Saturday condemned blogger Drew Olivar for urging UP students to commit suicide on his video log, which resurfaced recently and went viral on social media

In the video he posted in February, Olivar urged UP students to hang themselves from the Oblation instead of conducting protest activities.

The Oblation is the iconic symbol of UP, a monument of a naked human figure with arms outstretched and facing upwards. It comes from the Latin word “oblatio,” meaning to offer.

UP student council President Yael Toribio said Olivar’s post was a big insult to UP graduates who died serving the Filipino people.

“What he did is downright insensitive and insulting not only to the thousands of graduates of UP who shed blood, sweat, and tears to serve the Filipino people, but also to the growing and alarming number of Filipinos with mental health problems, including those who have committed suicide,” Toribio told TheManilaTimes.

He said the attention given to Olivar prompts the blogger to produce more content that could hurt or offend people.

“This is one of the many insulting remarks of the blogger. However, I do believe he does not deserve attention because it just gives him incentives to release more material that almost always attacks a certain group of people, whether it be members of the opposition or Filipinos with additional needs,” Toribio said.

Olivar is facing a criminal case filed by the Metro Manila Police for his bomb warning on September 21, 2018, the 46th anniversary of the declaration of Martial Law.