MANILA – Publicist Joyce Ramirez, tagged by blogger Rey Joseph Nieto as behind an alleged 2015 campaign to deflect blame from then-Interior secretary Mar Roxas in order to preserve his electoral chances for the upcoming 2016 polls, lashed out at Nieto on Thursday and called him a “famewhore” who makes wild claims to boost his following.
Appearing at Wednesday’s Senate hearing on “fake news,” Nieto, a consultant of the Department of Foreign Affairs and a pro-administration blogger, had claimed Roxas II was behind a campaign to pin the blame for the January 2015 Mamasapano incident on former President Benigno Aquino III.
Nieto, who is behind the “Thinking Pinoy” blog, claimed Ramirez was hired by Roxas to run the “Nasaan ang Pangulo” campaign, which trended after Aquino chose to attend the opening of car plant on the day the remains of police Special Action Force commandos killed in Mamasapano arrived in Manila.
Reacting to Nieto’s claims, Ramirez sent InterAksyon a statement saying she never met, never worked for and never got paid by Roxas.
Here’s her statement in full:
I find it unfortunate that the news has dragged my name without verifying the claims of blogger RJ Nieto aka “Thinking Pinoy.”
It would be a delusion to claim that I have been hired or worked for Sec. Mar Roxas because I never met him. We were never introduced in person and there are no records that he spoke to me or gave any orders. He was never a client.
In short: he does not know that I exist.
When claiming that a public official hired a professional for media-related work, you need to provide two evidences: 1. signed and notarized contract and 2. proof of payment to support the claim that a ‘transaction” has taken place.
A “famewhore” is defined as a person who is excessively driven to achieve fame and notoriety. They will stop at nothing (fake news included) to achieve thousands of followers and likes.
Nowadays, they use “love of country” as an excuse to camouflage their antics.
My suggestion to legit media moving forward is to exhaust all means to get all sides first before supporting the spread of fake news. I am a private citizen. I pay taxes and it is an insult to the very taxes that I pay that some of it goes to giving salaries to the very same famewhores who will stop at nothing just to get followers and likes.
I would also like to apologize to Sec Mar Roxas for being dragged to this nonsense. A respectable man like him does not deserve to be in the company of clowns.
