Cacao Project's Louise Mabulo meets with CHR on Nas Daily probe

MANILA — Louise Mabulo, the founder of a cacao farming initiative who recently traded accusations with Nas Daily founder Nuseir Yassin, has met with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to give her side in its investigation into the issue.

On Tuesday, Mabulo shared photos of the meeting with officials of CHR Region V, saying the group has launched a probe into “the recent issues surrounding the exploitation against me and the farmers here perpetuated by some vlogger.”

“I did say I would not provide more statements on the matter to the general public, but glad to provide my statements for the official procedures and processes that are being taken to address this,” she wrote.

Mabulo and Yassin exchanged scathing words in the past week, amid the controversy involving cultural icon Whang-Od.

In light of online backlash to Yassin’s planned Whang-Od Academy — dubbed a “scam” by the tattoo artist’s grandniece — Mabulo published her account of Nas Daily’s visit to her family’s farm in San Fernando, Camarines Sur in 2019.

“I watched him (Yassin) imitate and mock the local accent and language, vocalizing Tagalog-sounding syllabic phrases saying it sounded stupid,” Mabulo claimed in her August 5 post.

“He repeatedly said that the people of my hometown [are] ‘poor,’ ‘farmers are so poor!’ and “why are Filipinos so poor?’” He said no one wants to hear about farmers or farms, it’s not clickable viewable content. He didn’t care about making change or shedding light on real issues – he only wanted content, a good, easy story to tell that would get him more Filipino views.”

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Yassin, in response, called Mabulo’s Cacao Project a “fake story,” alleging that there were “no 200 farmers” as reported in local media.

Mabulo started The Cacao Project in 2016, to help farmers recover from the destruction of Typhoon Nina, which especially affected Bicol agriculture, according to the project’s website.

“The attacks against me are on social media, but my platform is real life — undeniable. Rest assured that actions are being taken to safeguard our people, and prevent further incidents like this,” Mabulo said.

“Sa Manlulupig di ka pasisiil. God bless you all!” she added, quoting a lyric from the Philippine national anthem.

As of writing, the CHR and Yassin have yet to release statements on the ongoing investigation into the issue.