Jover Laurio. Photo by 黑料社/CATHY MIRANDA
Jover Laurio, popularly known as the author of Pinoy Ako Blog (PAB), filed on March 13 at the Makati Regional Trial Court a civil complaint against Rey Joseph Nieto and Allantroy Rogando Sasot for聽鈥渧iolation of the Data Privacy Act of 2012, as well as pertinent provisions of the Civil Code with respect to breaches of the right to privacy and the right to free speech.鈥�
Nieto, who has his own blog called Thinking Pinoy, and Sasot are known as staunch supporters of President Rodrigo Duterte.
In Laurio鈥檚 formal complaint, her lawyer Juan Gregorio Ragragio of the group Alyansa ng Mga Abugado Para sa Bayan said, 鈥淣ieto and Sasot, each in their own individual capacities, maliciously and with ill intent, collected, recorded, consolidated, and published, without authorization, Laurio鈥檚 sensitive personal information鈥� including her full name, user credentials for PAB, and the law school where Laurio is enrolled.
鈥淭his act described above is referred to in Internet jargon as doxing. Doxing is considered extremely unethical, and is typically done with malicious intent聽 to intimidate, interrogate, blackmail, and control.
鈥淚n the course of doxing Laurio and divulging her sensitive personal information on Thinking Pinoy, Nieto and Sasot called on the National Bureau of Investigation to look into Laurio a private citizen, and her affairs, as if she is a person of interest in a pending investigation.
鈥淎s a direct result, Laurio received various harassing and threatening messages, both publicly and privately, on social media from strangers supportive of Nieto鈥檚 and Sasot鈥檚 actions. Because of the harassment, Laurio suffered mental anguish, serious anxiety, wounded feelings, and moral shock.
鈥淟aurio was forced to take a leave of absence from law school, causing an unwarranted delay in her studies.
鈥淪he was also forced to take a leave of absence from work, resulting in reduced income for the included time period. Although she briefly returned to her workplace, for safety reasons Laurio was eventually forced to resign from her place of work.鈥�
Laurio is asking for P2,150,000 in nominal, moral and exemplary damages, as well as attorney鈥檚 fees and complaint filing costs. /je