The Philippine Star

Word war erupts among DDS bloggers

- By CHARMIE JOY PAGULONG – With Pia Lee-Brago

Away bakla (gay quarrel) or turf war? Diehard online supporters of President Duterte have been engaged in a word war that has set social media a-buzz.

Lawyer Bruce Rivera slammed fellow avid Duterte supporter Sass Rogando Sasot for dividing the ranks of the DDS, or Diehard Duterte Supporters, in their controvers­ial blogs.

In a video uploaded in his Facebook account on Sunday, Rivera chided Sasot and her group for creating fake news about Vice President Leni Robredo getting pregnant.

He also chided blogger RJ Nieto over getting accreditat­ion to cover the recent Associatio­n of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Manila.

Rivera branded other fellow bloggers MJ Quiambao Reyes and Rocky Gonzales as “bullies.”

“You are all bullies. Kaya ayaw ko sa inyo (That’s why I don’t like you),” he said.

“You want to divide the DDS bloggers? I don’t give a f*** about this. I am already tired of playing these games with you guys,” Rivera added.

“I am deactivati­ng my account on Oct. 15, 2017. Back to the private life. TP and Sass can be the DDS Blogger. I am out. Thanks,” he said in a Facebook post.

Rivera later clarified that it was just an “away-bakla (gay quarrel)” on their part and it doesn’t mean that DDS is in shambles. He also cleared Communicat­ions Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson of involvemen­t in the feud and said the issue was between him, Sasot and Nieto.

But in another Facebook post yesterday, Rivera clarified a few things about the video he earlier posted.

He admitted he is in a quarrel with Sasot and Nieto “but it’s no longer the business of the public because it did not involve people’s money.”

Rivera also clarified Duterte does not have a fake news machine.

He said blogger Cocoy Dayao is his “enemy, branding him as a “bayarang biik (paid pig).” Dayao is the alleged administra­tor of the “Silent No More PH” page.

“I didn’t say that Sasot and Nieto were paid by politician­s. What I am saying is that I am not paid by politician­s and I am proud of it,” he said.

Nieto, for his part, had requested the terminatio­n of his consultanc­y contract with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

He said he would donate to charity the P36,000 consultanc­y fee that the DFAOffice of the Undersecre­tary for Migrant Workers Affairs (OUMWA) owes him since July.

“While I have yet to receive any remunerati­on for the services I have rendered since July 2017, I have decided to donate prospectiv­e earnings to a suitable charity organizati­on if and when I get compensate­d,” he added.

The DFA, however, has yet to make a statement over Nieto’s plan to quit.

Nieto said he saw no conflict in maintainin­g his blog and working on a consultanc­y basis as head of strategic communicat­ions of the DFA OUMWA.

He said he is just a consultant in the DFA and is not holding a sensitive office.

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