Willing to drop charges if netizen makes an apology

THIS JUST IN: Actress Liza Soberano files formal criminal case against the netizen who made a 'rape remark'. Liza was accompanied by her manager Ogie Diaz and legal counsel. pic.twitter.com/aBQ7aJpbXZ

— MJ Felipe (@mjfelipe) September 24, 2020

MANILA -- Actress Liza Soberano on Friday said that she wanted to take a stand for the silent victims of rape, rape jokes and misogyny when she filed a criminal case against a netizen who made a rape remark about her a few days ago.

Accompanied by her manager Ogie Diaz and legal counsel Atty. Jun Lim of Lim-Yutatco-Sze law firm, Soberano took her oath before Deputy City Prosecutor Irene Ressureccion on Thursday morning.

On Friday, in an interview with Karen Davila on ANC's "Headstart," Soberano stressed that rape joke is no laughing matter.

"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," Soberano said.

"And I feel like it's about time that it ends because rape is not funny. There's nothing funny about joking about it," she added.

Soberano believes that she has a strong case against the netizen.

"There's nobody you can really pinpoint in those comments but me because I was the only person at that time to have talked about their company online and to show some disappointment with the service being provided. So it's pretty obvious that it was me that they were talking about without even mentioning my name," Soberano said.

The actress stressed that aside from helping others gain the courage to stand up for themselves, she also wants to show that you can't just bully people 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.

But asked if she would drop the cases if the netizen will apologize to her, Soberano said: "Honestly, yes. What I really want is for her to say sorry with my name because I feel like just saying sorry publicly, I don't feel the sincerity. And I feel like she really doesn't own up to her own mistakes if she does not mention my name in her apology because it's so easy to deny that it was me because my name wasn't there. But then again everything that they were talking about all pointed towards me."

Aside from the netizen who made a rape remark, Soberano said she will also be fling a case against another employee who revealed personal information of her stepmother when she complained about the internet service.

"They are actually two different people po. We will be doing something about the data privacy violation as well. It's just that I had to take action on this other matter first because there's more of an urgency for it for me," Soberano said.

On Thursday night, ABS-CBN and Star Magic sought to remind people to use social media responsibly, by backing Soberano’s decision to file a criminal case against a netizen who threatened to have her raped.

“We applaud Liza’s courage to protect her dignity as a woman. Let this be a lesson to everyone to be responsible in using social media and to be respectful to others,” ABS-CBN and Star Magic said in a statement.

READ: Statement on Liza Soberano pic.twitter.com/kcEyTvc0dq

— ABS-CBN PR (@ABSCBNpr) September 24, 2020

In a vlog post this past week, Soberano’s manager, Ogie Diaz, said that the rape remark in question was made by a BPO employee after the actress complained about the internet service provided by telecom company Converege.

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Converge had already acknowledged the issue, saying in a statement posted on Facebook: “We are deeply concerned about the wrongful comments and behavior of some employees over social media.”