Elanel Egot Ordidor is a Filipina citizen working in Taiwan as a caregiver. Her facebook account used the pseudonym Linn Silawan. In early April, she posted a profanity laden video on facebook commenting on Philippines dictator…sorry, “president” Rodrigo Duterte and his incompetent handling of the epidemic.
Within days, Duterte’s goons, lackeys and errand runners demanded Ordidor be repatriated to the Philippines, and that she would be charged with “the crime of cyber libel for willful posting of nasty and malevolent materials against President Duterte on Facebook intended to cause hatred”.
When I heard this, my first thought was “What did she say? Did she incite assassination or call for armed rebellion?” I haven’t seen the video (it’s in Tagalog, anyway), and none of the commercial “news” media reported what her words contained.
There’s lots more below the fold.
Ordidor said Macauyag often talked over her in the meeting, making it difficult for her to express her reasoning for posting the original video on April 12. POLO staff took a video of their meeting with Ordidor, she said. When she asked for a copy of the video after the meeting, they declined, saying they had deleted it.
She confirmed that Macauyag had asked her in the meeting to delete the April 12 video and issue an apology. Under the duress of three government officials at her workplace and threats of Macauyag “doing something against her,” Ordidor said she initially agreed to do so.
However, once the officials had left, she had a change of heart.
Ordidor acknowledged to Ketagalan Media that she used coarse language in her six-minute video and was harsh towards Duterte supporters, describing them as fools for supporting Duterte’s COVID-19 policies. She, as others have done online, expressed the opinion that the current policies may lead to a food crisis in the Philippines. She also acknowledged that she said in the video that should Duterte give her the opportunity, she would slap him.
Good for her, not backing down in the face of goons attempting to intimidate her.
But that is what he’s touchy about? Because she said she would slap him? Because she said people were in danger of starving?
Duterte is the murderous brute responsible for the deaths of anywhere from 5000 to 12000 people invovled in the drug trade, allowing the cops and military to kill with impunity. Some are calling for him to be charged with Crimes Against Humanity.
He is the thug who gave cops “shoot to kill” orders for anyone who violates quarantine. There are two confirmed cases of Philippine cops murdering people who violated quarantine, making no attempt to arrest them. Likely, more people have been murdered and just not made the news.
He is the incompetent clown who in January barred people from Taiwan for “being infected” while still allowing mainland Chinese travellers into the country.
Duterte deserves trial, conviction and capital punishment, not a slap. No doubt he’s egotistical and insecure enough to claim I’m making a “threat”.
The Philippine government demanded Taiwan repatriate her to face charges. Taiwan has ruled that becuase her words don’t constitute libel and are deemed protected speech under Taiwan’s laws, she has committed no crime here and will not be sent back. They will have to wait until her work permit expires and she returns voluntarily.
(Note: Taiwan News” is fourth rate “journalism”.)
Taiwan says Filipina caregiver has freedom of speech to criticize Duterte
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In response to a request by the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to deport a Filipina caregiver for criticizing President Rodrigo Duterte, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Monday (April 27) rebuffed the request and said that she has the right to freedom of speech.
On Saturday (April 25), Labor Attaché Fidel Macauyag announced that a Filipina working as a caregiver in Taiwan’s Yunlin County would be deported for “the crime of cyber libel for [her] willful posting of nasty and malevolent materials against President Duterte on Facebook,” reported Rappler. Macauyag said that the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) had coordinated with the woman’s broker and employer to arrange for her deportation for violating Act No. 10175, commonly referred to as the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
That same day, Migrante International came to her defense, denouncing what it described as harassment of the woman by DOLE and POLO. The organization criticized both DOLE and the Manila Economic and Cultural Office for “bootlicking” Duterte while ignoring the pleas of thousands of “distressed, abused, stranded, and neglected OFWs needing to be rescued and assisted.”
[. . .]
She complained about families being unable to receive remittances and urged authorities “not to be too loyal to the President.” She called on them to think of the welfare of their children and families and to not “just think about the orders of the President.”
If she is found guilty of violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act, she could face a prison sentence of up to six months or a fine as high as 250,000 pesos, according to Macauyag.
Based on appearance, she is treated well by her employer (better than many Filipinas working abroad) and likely will be able to stay. With any luck, the brute will be removed from office (by election or military coup) and arrested for his crimes in a year or two. This wasn’t “libel”, he’s a pathetic and butthurt tyrant.
There’s nothing less majestic than lèse–majesté laws.
Word.