Fellow actors Angel Locsin and Alessandra de Rossi backed Liza Soberano after she filed a criminal complaint against a supposed telecommunications employee for a rape remark made online.
Locsin shared a hugging emoji and tweeted, “Mahigpit na yakap” as she tagged Soberano’s account in response to reports that the latter has personally filed a case in the Quezon City Regional Trial Court against Melissa Olaes on Thursday.
The actress was accompanied by her talent manager Ogie Diaz and legal counsel Jun Lim, who reportedly said that the rape comment was in violation of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 or the Republic Act No. 10175.
Charges of e-libel, grave threats and unjust vexation were filed against Olaes.
Mahigpit na akap @lizasoberano 🤗 https://t.co/kHdUJr25F4
— Angel Locsin (@143redangel) September 24, 2020
De Rossi likewise supported Soberano and said that the incident should serve as a “lesson” to all.
“Matuto lang galangin ang isa’t isa online. Lesson na ito para sa lahat. Salamat, Liza. ‘Kaso’ is not good and magastos pa. So think before you make a nasty remark. Wala naman may kayang magsabi nun in person, lalong ‘wag mo gawin online kung saan may ebidensya,” she tweeted.
Gabriela Women’s Party also tweeted the hashtags “#StandWithLiza” and “#LabananAngAbuso” in response to Soberano’s initiative.
“Women have been receiving rape threats online for voicing out their opinions on social issues. Again, WOMEN WILL NOT BE SILENCED. We stand with Liza during this critical time when violence against women is increasing due to the intensifying culture of impunity. #StandWithLiza,” the party-list said.
“Abante, babae @lizasoberano! #LabananAngAbuso,” it added.
What’s the story?
Soberano previously called out Converge ICT on Twitter for experiencing slow internet connection and poor customer service.
She later on revealed that some employees of the internet service provider had bared her personal information online.
Fans of the actress also brought into her attention some supposed Converge employees who made rape comments about her on social media.
One of them caught the attention of a Twitter account dedicated to giving ABS-CBN updates.
The online user, identified as Olaes, commented: “Wala tayong magagawa, wala ng trabaho, kaya di bale ng masira ang image, magkapera lang. Sarap ipa-rape sa mga…ewan!”
Soberano assured her fans that she would make them accountable.
RELATED: ‘Won’t gonna let this pass’: Liza Soberano to hold telco employees accountable for rape remarks
Days after, the actress went to file a case against the individual.
In a Friday interview with ANC’s “Headstart,” Soberano explained that she wanted to stand up for the silent victims of rape, rape jokes and misogyny.
“The issue here is rape. I don’t think that I can just let that pass because for me the reason why I want to pursue this case is because I wanted to take a stand for all the silent victims of rape, of rape jokes, of misogyny,” she told Karen Davila.
“And I feel like it’s about time that it ends because rape is not funny. There’s nothing funny about joking about it,” Soberano added.
The actress also said that she wanted people to understand that their actions have consequences, even if they were done online.
“I think since the pandemic happened, everybody is online and I’ve been seeing a lot of people just spewing so much hate. I want them to all learn a lesson that you can’t just bully people online and just get away with it,” Soberano said.
She added that she is willing to drop the charges against Olaes if the latter would address her and make a sincere apology.
Converge, meanwhile, has addressed issues about their supposed employees and assured the public that they would “carry out disciplinary measures accordingly.”
“We do not tolerate such actions toward any customer and emphasize that their personal opinions do not reflect the company’s perspective, values, and culture,” it said on Sunday.
