Opposition Sen. Francis Pangilinan took up the cudgels for wife Sharon Cuneta and daughter KC on Friday, filing cybercrime cases against Google Philippines and two YouTube channels for posting “malicious and fake videos.”
The aggrieved senator, vowing to “do what it takes” to protect his family, went to court for what he alleged to be multiple fake news and defamatory videos claiming domestic violence and adultery.
“Ang pamilya ko ang buhay ko. Gagawin ko ang lahat para protektahan sila. [My family is my life. I will everything within my power to protect them],” Pangilinan said as he personally appeared before the Department of Justice (DOJ) to lodge a formal complaint.
“Hindi lang kami ang nakakaranas ng ganitong problema. Marami rin tayong mga kababayan na ilang beses nang nagreport ng mga mapanira na videos sa YouTube, pero wala silang aksyon. [I surmise that this is not an isolated case. Many of our countrymen have been victimized by YouTube’s defamatory videos but it seems they’re no doing anything to address the matter],” he complained in a news statement.
Pangilinan pointed out “there is obviously a gap somewhere,” asserting “this needs to stop. Social-media sites need to step up and be more responsive to reports and more especially to legal complaints. These are harmful to individuals and to families.”
At the same time, the opposition lawmaker enlisted the technical assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation’s crack probers in Cybercrime Division to disclose Starlet’s and Latest Chika’s information and relevant data, to search and seize related computer data, and to identify the authors or persons responsible for the creation and management of the YouTube channel.
He recalled that just last May 2021, several videos were uploaded on Starlet and Latest Chika YouTube channels “with the title, content, and caption claiming that Senator Pangilinan was physically hurting his wife, Sharon Cuneta-Pangilinan, and that cases were filed against him for physical violence by Ms. Sharon and daughter KC,” adding that the videos also claimed that “Ms. Sharon was committing adultery.”
The senator asserted that both claims were “repeatedly denied and proven to be untrue.”
Moreover, Pangilinan griped that his office already reported 82 fake and malicious YouTube, “but 54 of the 82 videos have yet to be decided upon, while 28 have been rejected through a template uniform message claiming that the videos have already been reviewed and that the defamation claim has no merit.”
He noted that as of June 2021, the videos have already garnered hundreds of thousands of views even after he lodged a complaint, where he cited that “as owner and service provider of YouTube, Google is liable under Philippine laws as a foreign corporation doing business in the Philippines, adding that its country manager, Bernadatte Nacario, is responsible for YouTube’s day-to-day operations in the Philippines.”
Pangilinan protested that despite submissions of defamatory claims and prior knowledge of existence of the said defamatory videos, “Google’s inaction and refusal to remove said videos violate Philippine laws and YouTube’s own Community Guidelines.”
“We must defend the truth, and hold responsible those purveying lies and fake news,” the senator said, vowing “we will see them in court.”