ABS-CBN unions decry attacks on online drive

MANILA, Philippines — Union groups from ABS-CBN decried the online attacks by trolls to sabotage their signature campaign to bring the network back on the air. The ABS-CBN Rank and File Employees’ Union and the ABS-CBN Supervisory Employees’ Union said the scale of the attacks suggested an organized effort by those seeking to permanently shutter the network.

“It is sad to know that there are groups or people that want to ruin our petition,” said Jon Villanueva, president of the ABS-CBN Rank and File Employees’ Union.

Villanueva said the signature campaign was attacked by bots and fake accounts, who used obscenities, curse words and repetitive names as usernames, to discredit the petition.

—Jhesset O. Enano