Journalist Atom Araullo called out a social media user for spreading lies about his mother.
The news personality on Tuesday shared screengrabs of a Twitter user’s replies to him where the latter claimed his mother, Carol Pagaduan Araullo, is a member of New People’s Army and among those behind the Mendiola Massacre.
“I don’t usually call out private individuals here, but behavior like this should not be normalized,” Atom wrote.
“Disinformation is a huge problem globally, one that can have deadly consequences. Examples from a particularly devoted user below,” he added.
Atom also tagged the social media user in another tweet.
“Don’t do that. These are lies, probably fed to you by some of the influencers you follow,” he wrote.
“Kailan pa naging katanggap-tanggap ‘yung ganito?” the journalist added.
Before that, Atom tweeted about controversial preacher Apollo Quiboloy who is wanted in the United States after being indicted by a federal jury last year.
The tweet of the user can no longer be found but the journalist was seen replying to it with the following: “You are spreading disinformation. Ano pong source? Facebook?”
Atom then noticed the online user’s comments against his mom and called the latter out.
Carol is the chairperson of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan or BAYAN, a multisectoral formation advocating for national and social liberation against imperialism.
She was the one who single-handedly confronted policemen who were on standby when they had an anti-Martial Law activity for the 50th anniversary of its declaration.
Carol is an activist who fought against the dictatorship of former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
She is a graduate of the University of the Philippines-Diliman where she became a student activist beginning the Diliman Commune of 1971, when law enforcement agents attempted to enter the campus.
“Kung hindi ako kikilos, laban sa Martial Law, sino ang kikilos? Kung hindi ngayon, kailan pa?” Carol shared last year, recounting her first years of activism.
Her son, Atom, also shared of having a “parallel experience” as a freshman in UP at the height of the ouster campaign against then-president Josep “Erap” Estrada.
“I wouldn’t say I was radicalized at that moment, pero parang if I learned anything from my family, is not to be afraid of those kinds of incidences, mga protests,” he said before.
