Cendaña files complaint at NBI vs vloggers ‘mocking’ PWDs

MANILA, Philippines — Akbayan Rep. Cendaña has filed a complaint before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which seeks to investigate online influencers and vloggers supposedly mocking persons with disabilities (PWDs) and proliferating homophobic attacks on social media.

Cendaña, along with PWD advocates, arrived at the NBI headquarters in Pasay City on Tuesday morning to file the complaint.

The lawmaker and advocates asked the NBI to investigate at least 30 online accounts—including those of Cho Moreno, MP Miko Pogay, and Kiffy Chu—supposedly posting numerous content that violates the Magna Carta of Disabled Persons and the Safe Spaces Act.

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They also called for a probe into how PWDs are subjected to online bullying, harassment, ridicule, and discrimination.

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The party-list lawmaker, who is a stroke survivor and openly gay man, noted that he himself is being subjected to “relentless online attacks” and other “dehumanizing remarks,” but pointed out that the complaint is not solely about his personal experiences.

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“Sa dulo, ito ay tungkol sa pagtrato natin sa persons with disabilities. No space or platform, online or offline, should ever be a venue to mock, humiliate, and dehumanize PWDs,” Cendaña said in a press release.

(Ultimately, this is about how we treat persons with disabilities. No space or platform, online or offline, should ever be a venue to mock, humiliate, and dehumanize PWDs.)

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“We are asking the NB to send a clear message: disability is not a joke, and dehumanizing PWDs is not a punchline,” the solon emphasized.

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Prior to filing the complaint at the NBI, Cendaña likewise submitted a letter-complaint to the National Council on Disability Affairs to take action on the “dehumanizing attacks” against him and address online harassment targeting PWDs. /jpv