A supporter of President Duterte was exposed to have allegedly bought and changed the name of a “Kim Soo Hyun” Facebook fan group to “President Duterte Supporters.”

Kim Soo-hyun is a South Korean actor famous for his role in the television drama “My Love from the Star.” Fan groups are platforms for thousands of fanatics to exchange stories and update one another on the latest news about their favorite stars.

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Karla Obispo, a travel blogger and English teacher, had joined the Korean actor’s fan group for the sole purpose of following Kim Soo-hyun, but said she discovered that the fan group’s name had been changed to “President Duterte Supporters.” Obispo shared a Facebook post yesterday, showing screenshots of her questioning the administrator behind the name change. A certain Donnabelle Gamboa Pascual is the administrator in question.

Obispo updated her post with a comment, accompanied with a screenshot of her telling Pascual that people were leaving the group because not all of them were Duterte supporters.

“Hi Admin, people are leaving this group because not all of us are Duterte fanatics,” Obispo wrote. “Please don’t sell the fan group for political purposes.”

Pascual, on the other hand, told her she could leave if she wanted to. She added that she wasn’t selling the group, but just wanted to make it active.

The once-Kim Soo-hyunn fan group has over 13,000 members. Now, the cover photo has been changed with President Duterte’s face. Pascual, Bless Gamboa Pascual and Facebook page “President Duterte Supporters” are also the current administrators of the group.

Obispo later shared screenshots of a claim that the newly reformed “President Duterte Supporters” group’s page had been bought.

“Hi Miss Karla Obispo! I’ve bought that page so I have the right to do what I want,” the group wrote. “Don’t worry, I will return the original name as soon as it will become active.”

In Obispo’s latest update, however, she shared that the pinned post in the group was a propaganda against Sen. Risa Hontiveros and that the group had changed its name once more, from “President Duterte Supporters” to “Davao CT.” The page is described as a closed group only for “100% President Rodrigo Duterte Supporters”.

While many wondered about the identity of Pascual, the said administrator of the “President Duterte Supporters” group, one netizen shared a link to Pascual’s Facebook photo.

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The photo showed Pascual with Carlos Munda of “MindaVote,” a socio-political Facebook page that “embodies the common dream of all Mindanawons to have Peace, Justice, and Equality.”

Netizens give their own take, recall similar experiences

Netizens were quick to respond to Obispo’s revelation. One Vera Juan commented, “Di daw binili pero binili?! Hahaha parang malamig pero di masyado pero malamig na malamig.”

Benedict George, meanwhile, wrote that he did a background check on Pascual, saying she was “a Leni supporter just months ago,” but suddenly changed her course when the new year started. “Guess money talks talaga,” he added.

Mark Larry Angsinco found himself contemplating, saying, “Minsan din kasi yung iba ginagawa mga ganyan para lang makakuha ng members tapos kapag dumami na ang members papalitan na ang name.”

Other netizens shared experiences similar to Obispo’s, saying that they were members of Facebook pages that were later transformed into DDS (Diehard Duterte Supporters) pages.

UPDATES

At 2:30 p.m. today, the administrator changed the group name for the third time, reverting it back to its original name “Kim Soo Hyun.”

“Apparently, the admin changed the group name from Davao to Kim Soo Hyun,” Obispo told INQUIRER.net. “I guess after being exposed.”

Obispo added that it was only yesterday, after changing the group’s name, that the administrators started posting “a lot of propaganda.”

Obispo provided a screenshot of the notifications she received last night, in which Pascual successively posted news about Senators Bam Aquino and Hontiveros, as well as Oprah Winfrey.

By 2:52 p.m., the administrators have deserted the group, as shown in a screenshot by Obispo.

Meanwhile, Donnabelle Gamboa Pascual’s Facebook account has been deactivated. /ra

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