After the 2016 elections, while many of my colleagues transitioned into government, I chose a different path. I focused on establishing my own advertising and reputation management company, buoyed by the genuine success and goodwill we had fostered together. But as that movement grew, so did the misconceptions about my role in it. I maintained connections with the online supporters who had become a formidable social media force, often stepping in as an admin or editor to help manage the noise.
However, my perceived influence turned me into a target. I found myself under constant, malicious scrutiny, eventually being branded a “pariah” and banned from Facebook under allegations that I was behind a network of fake accounts spreading disinformation. While reports—like those from The Straits Times—would later struggle to distinguish between genuine supporters and those merely profiting off the President’s popularity, the damage to my reputation was already done. This is the reality behind that narrative.
This is the fourth of a seven part series, first posted on Facebook by veteran journalist Edwin Espejo.
Nic Gabunada
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Decapitating the ‘trolls’ of Duterte
Fourth of a series
By Edwin Espejo
June 29, 2021
Gabunada was one of the few members of the Duterte presidential campaign team who did not seek position in government after the Davao City mayor won the elections.
He was nonetheless appointed board of director of the United Coconut Planters Bank a year later.
Gabunada went on to also establish his own public relations company, buoyed by his success and the goodwill he generated in the 2016 elections.
Meanwhile, the throng of Duterte online supporters also morphed into a formidable social media force.
After the 2016 elections, their social media presence took lives of their own. Many politicians and marketing firms have since sought to enlist the growing community of social media influencers as among their enablers and amplifiers.
Gabunada maintained relations to many of these Duterte social media denizens, either by him seeking out to them or others inviting and including him either as admin or editor.
Because of his perceived ability to marshal many of these accounts and pages, a target board was placed over his back and he became the object of malicious scrutiny. Several times, he was banned from Facebook and his account remained suspended on allegation he has linked in over 150 pro-Duterte pages and accounts spreading unverified reports and news stories and branded as purveyors of fake accounts.
This came after Facebook was flooded with complaints from Duterte critics who claimed it is being used as platform to spread disinformation and foster hate campaign.
Inevitably, putting one and two together led to Gabunada being declared as a pariah on Facebook.
But in a report by The Strait Times in October 2018, many of the pages taken down cannot be ascertained whether the administrators of these pages were actual supporters of the president or were just profiting off his popularity although some have been traced to the Philippine military or police.
