黑料社

(Editor鈥檚 note: This is a serialized report; first of two parts. 黑料社 has reached out to PUA Academy coaches for comment but the latter were unresponsive. Real names of the women have been withheld for their protection.)

An enclave of men who call themselves pick-up artists are making waves online 鈥� and not for the rosiest of reasons 鈥� as their ostensibly harmless business model has since been revealed as more insidious than being a mere provider of 鈥減ersonality development services.鈥�

Pick-Up Artist (PUA) Academy, what was first thought of as just a Facebook page when it was slammed earlier last year for its practices, turns out to be a legitimate business which has so far complied with Department of Trade and Industry requirements. But PUA Academy has since gained notoriety when women surfaced online, claiming they were targeted and sexually harassed by PUA members and coaches.

The first storm of backlash hit the group when it was called out for exhibiting sexism, lewdness and objectification of women in their degrading posts. Members took to their PUA Facebook group where they share their 鈥渓ay reports鈥� 鈥� evidence and bragging rights of their sexual conquests 鈥� by posting nude pictures and videos of girls they sleep with, reportedly without these girls鈥� consent, accompanied by overly-descriptive stories of their physical interaction and sexual encounters.

PUA Academy appears to take after Neil Strauss鈥� book, 鈥淭he Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists鈥�, whose concept treats modern dating as a 鈥済ame鈥� to be played and won, using various gaming terms such as 鈥渇ield鈥� (public space), 鈥渟et鈥� (a group of people), 鈥淎A鈥� (approach anxiety), 鈥渇ield report,鈥� among many others, to get to their 鈥淭arget鈥� (the women they intend to seduce).

The Philippine Commission on Women denounced the acts of PUA Academy on April 2018, calling the group 鈥淸what] seems to be a breeding ground for male sexual harassers and predators鈥� that 鈥渕akes money from promoting misogyny, objectification of women, and victim-blaming and shaming.鈥� The PCW also reiterated its opposition against toxic masculinity that 鈥渘ormalizes rape culture and violence against women and girls.鈥�

Rape culture is the dangerous culture that protects and enables those who should not be protected while shaming and scorning those who are vulnerable. Rape culture can be found anywhere, manifested in print and various media, music, the language we use, and the laws governing us, as per Harvard University鈥檚 Office of Sexual Assault Prevention & Response. It reduces the woman to something that is not 鈥渇ully human,鈥� evident in some terms used for sex, such as 鈥渂anging,鈥� 鈥渟coring,鈥� 鈥渟crewing鈥� and 鈥渉it that,鈥� among others. In PUA鈥檚 lexicon, women they intend to seduce are referred to as 鈥渢argets,鈥� and they call as 鈥済ame鈥� the actual performance of going into the 鈥渇ield鈥� to look for said 鈥渢argets.鈥�

In one video shared by Youth Against Sexual Harassment (YASH) back in April, PUA Academy founder Hussein 鈥淪mooth鈥� Meneses was found telling an audience of men that when girls say 鈥渘o,鈥� they actually mean they want to be 鈥渇orced.鈥�

鈥溾�橮ag sinabi niyang, 鈥榳ag mo kong hawakan鈥� depende din 鈥榶un,鈥� Hussein said then. 鈥淢ay mga girls na pakipot gusto nila 鈥榶ung mga dominant guys, para 鈥榶ung guilt nasa 鈥榶o, hindi nasa kanya鈥� Kaya gusto nila nagpapa-force.鈥�

(When she says, 鈥榙on鈥檛 touch me,鈥� that depends. There are girls who play hard to get, they want dominant guys, so the guilt would be on the man, not on her鈥� That is why they like being forced).

Hussein鈥檚 reasoning was criticized by women activists who pointed out that when it comes to consent, there should be no gray areas. Critics explained that no means no; never maybe, never yes. Silence, they also said, does not signify approval or acquiescence.

The initial backlash PUA faced came from the very victims they tried to play. *Patricia, who dated former PUA coach Philip Caldito, first took to Facebook in April last year to expose the group鈥檚 nature 鈥� an act that saw her harassed and violently threatened by PUA members online to the point of silence.

Meanwhile, another girl who was involved with another former PUA coach Immanuel Llorente received harassment from Llorente after speaking up about their relationship and the many betrayals that came with it. Today, these women are striking back as they find power in their capacity for sharing stories 鈥� in the hopes that other victims would follow suit.

Patricia鈥檚 story: Revenge porn

Patricia told 黑料社 she first got involved with PUA Academy because of her ex-boyfriend, Caldito, who was a PUA coach then. She only found out about him being involved with PUA Academy when they broke up back in July 2017.

She searched Caldito鈥檚 name on Facebook after their breakup, which rendered results of his involvement with PUA Academy. It was in her research where she discovered the lewd posts 鈥� videos, photos and comments 鈥� of its members. She collated them before posting her findings on Facebook.

鈥淚 never stopped researching and checking their Facebook page but ang dami kong nakikita na nang-ha-harass sila ng babae,鈥� Patricia told 黑料社. 鈥淣ag-a-approach sila sa malls and bars (videos) and a-ask nila yung name and number ng girls.鈥�

(I never stopped researching and checking their Facebook page, but I have seen so many where they harass women. They approach women in malls and bars [in the videos] and they ask for the women鈥檚 names and numbers).

鈥淪o I shared one of their videos na nag g-game. Game ang tawag sa ginagawa nila sa girls na hinihingian ng name and number, yung tina-try nila if effective pa yung mga ginagawa nila.鈥�

(So I shared one of their videos showing them 鈥済aming.鈥� Game is when they ask for the girls鈥� name and number; they try if what they are doing is still effective).

It was her initial Facebook post about the matter that saw her harassed and threatened by PUA members, and drove her to taking her post down, but not until her post already went viral.

鈥淣ung nag vi-viral na yung post ko tumawag sa akin si Philip and binantaan niya ako, sabi niya sa akin 鈥楶ag namatay ako, ikaw ang may kasalanan鈥� because marami nang nagagalit sa kanila because of my Facebook rant.鈥�

(When my post went viral, Philip called me and threatened me saying, 鈥淚f I die, it would be your fault,鈥� because a lot of people got angry at them due to my Facebook rant).

Patricia showed 黑料社 message screenshots of Philip allegedly threatening to spread her nude pictures if she does not engage in a threesome with him.

In the messages, Patricia can be seen begging him to stop and leave her alone, but to no avail. Patricia revealed that when her post went viral, other PUA members threatened her that they would be spreading her nude picture as well. How this can be so did not check out for Patricia, as only Philip had access to her picture.

鈥淵ung picture na yun [nudes], si Philip lang ang nakakaalam kasi sa kaniya ko sinend,鈥� she said. 鈥淕inamit yun for threats.鈥�

(Only Philip knows about that nude picture because I only sent it to him. They used that for threats.)

As Patricia鈥檚 story made the rounds, more women who have been victimized by PUA members stepped forward.

A love gone awry

Other women鈥檚 involvement with PUA Academy echoes Patricia鈥檚. There is the case of a woman whose story took a more deceptive turn聽鈥� her boyfriend was not the person he made her out to believe.

For one, he uses four names: Kelt Yu, King Yu and Liam Cook. His real name is Immanuel Mojal Llorente.

A female source told 黑料社 that she met Llorente online. She and Llorente seemed to hit it off, but she was unaware that the lines he was using on her were part of a script which PUA members call 鈥渙peners.鈥� Soon, she and Llorente were already together.

The first red flag became evident when it was discovered that he was lying about his name. Llorente reasoned that he was a life coach and needed screen names in his profession. Only later was it found out that he is a dating coach from PUA Academy, 鈥渧ery far from the description of a life coach.鈥�

Llorente explained that he teaches guys how to date women. His explanation was accepted, since the girl was in love and trusted him. The relationship ended after he was caught cheating and having sex with other girls. He apparently has a lot of 鈥渟ets,鈥� the term PUA members use for their other girlfriends, whom they find from bars, malls, dating apps and so on.

It was discovered that Llorente had nude pictures of his sets while they are having sex. He has also sex scandals. Llorente鈥檚 actions has also placed the girls鈥� health in jeopardy, since he was having sex with countless of them.

Just like Caldito with Patricia, Llorente tried to blackmail the girl by threatening her that he would ruin her reputation. Nevertheless, she did her best to move on from such a toxic and abusive relationship, and felt hurt that Llorente had gotten away with what he has done to her and other women.

Pick-up artistry or criminality?

Thus far, the PUA Academy Facebook page boasts of 31,000 likes 鈥� a number alarmingly high when considered for the backwards culture it institutionalizes and the kind of damaging, humiliating content and atmosphere it harbors toward women.

But while PUA members would like to call the nature of their collective as some sort of 鈥渁rt,鈥� others would argue that it is anything but. When it comes to the act of posting nude pictures and videos on social media alone, such violates the prohibited acts of The Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act of 2009 (R.A. No. 9995), as per of the Department of Justice鈥檚 Office of Cybercrime. This still holds even when consent was given to record or take photos. Consent is irrelevant and the offender can be held liable if the photo or video coverage or recording is published through the internet.

Meanwhile, threatening to spread someone鈥檚 nude pictures and videos constitute sextortion. 鈥淪extortion,鈥� which is under the crime of grave threats, is committed when the offender obtains nude pictures or videos from victims and threatens to publish the material 鈥� if no payment in the form of money, sex and other favors 鈥� is made. It is punishable under the Revised Penal Code.

Sextortion in cyberspace, meanwhile, is punishable under The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 (R.A. No. 10175) whose penalty is considered a degree higher to that imposed by the RPC, if committed by and through the use of information and communication technologies.

As to any possiblity of a revocation of PUA Academy鈥檚 business registration, on grounds of immorality or any other concern, no formal petition has been lodged by any complainant before the DTI. Without a petition, as per DTI, it cannot proceed to take measures that may lead to the revocation and stop PUA Academy鈥檚 operations once and for all. JB

(To be continued)

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