The Daily IIJ

Jason Ivler, who who allegedly gunned down Renato Ebarle Jr., in a display of road rage last November 18, was recently apprehended by the NBI following a shootout at his mother’s house on January 18. Footage of the early morning raid quickly made it to news channels and websites, as transfixed viewers watched the exchange of gunfire between the defiant Ivler and the NBI team. Days after the shootout, the Jason Ivler Facebook fan page was born. The article discusses the ethics of Facebook fan pages.

You might not believe it at first, but there are apparently thousands of Jason Ivler supporters—if his Facebook fan page proves anything. In less than a week, Ivler’s Facebook page went from 1,016 fans to 10,436 as of press time (the number grows every day, but when his mother, Marlene Aguilar, started granting interviews the other week, the fans tripled in a matter of hours). And no, it isn’t a massive display of irony, because many of these fans are dead serious about defending Ivler, whom they refer to as a kick-ass “gangsta,” the “Eminem of the Philippines,” or simply as “idol.”

Ivler, who allegedly gunned down Renato Ebarle Jr., in a display of road rage last November 18, was recently apprehended by the NBI following a shootout at his mother’s house on January 18. Footage of the early morning raid quickly made it to news channels and websites, as transfixed viewers watched the exchange of gunfire between the defiant Ivler and the NBI team. Days after the shootout, the Jason Ivler Facebook fan page was born.

Obviously, Ivler himself does not moderate the page. It is unclear who exactly the site administrators are, but Ivler’s fan page simply states in the personal information that he “loves Grand Theft Auto 4 and the movie Scarface.” The site administrators also took it upon themselves to speak for the accused, saying “It used to bother me being portrayed as this bad person, but now I feel that the public understands me better than some writer. There are people who know who I really am, and that’s good enough for me.”

Since last week, the Facebook page has attracted quite a lot of attention from defenders and detractors alike. Ivler’s page, which some parties had initially dismissed as a sarcastic outlet for detractors, is actually filled with messages of support, encouragement, and sometimes, outright adulation for the 28-year-old former member of the U.S. Army.

Others also staunchly defended their “idol,” pointing out that the trial had not yet begun, and that he was being made to go through an unfair trial by media. “Never judge the lives of other people, you never know what their journey is about. Team Ivler!” wrote Krystel Anne Alegre, one of the listed fans, on the page.

Nadine Antinew posted, “How sure are you that those guys who he allegedly killed are innocent? For all we know, parehas lang sila nagkataon lang na mas marunong gumamit ng baril yung isa. (they could both be the same, only [Ivler] knew how to work a gun better.) Just saying. By judging him, you’re just like us. Filthy, dirty, scumbag. We cant help it, after all, we are all humans.”

While some reasoned out that a fair trial had yet to be held, there were many who simply expressed their blind adulation based on his daring shootout with the police, his good looks, and the fact that he had released a rap album in the past. Kam A. Oriendo, for instance, told off detractors by saying: “Sa mga hater ni Jason Ivler: manahimik nalang kayo di niyo naman alam ang alamat ni Jason Ivler eh. Wala kayong talent sa rap.” (To Jason Ivler’s haters: just shut up, you don’t know anything about his story. You have no talent in rapping.”)

More controversial ones express their outright support for his deed. Gary Arcelo wrote, “Idol tama ginawa mo. Pinatay mo ang taong yon, siguro ubod ng yabang yon kasi anak ng something government. Ok yan idol… pareho tayo ng pag-iisip.” (Idol, what you did was right. You killed that person, he was probably arrogant because he was the son of a government official. Good job, idol… We think the same way.)

A blogger posted, “You have to admit, not since the Vizconde massacre had there been telegenic criminals [in the Philippines.]” Ivler has not yet spoken about the incident because of his confinement at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center, so whether his popularity will increase or not after his release remains to be seen.

Admittedly, the adulation that surrounds the currently incapacitated Ivler is similar to the dreamy sighs from colegialas 10 years ago, when a young, educated and preppy-looking Hubert Webb stood on trial for the Vizconde rape-slay. Or more recently, the reactions of women during the trial of Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, who made the news after he allegedly raped Suzette Nicolas and left her dazed on the street (he was eventually acquitted). The public showed a more forgiving—even adoring—side to the baby-faced men.

“It’s the lure of the bad boy,” writer Kinny Amparo said on Facebook. “The fact that he is mestizomakes it worse. If the guy were dark, fat and acne-studded there would be a mob outside the hospital to snatch and torture him!”

However, social networking in those times (Webb made headlines in 1994 and was convicted in 2000, while news of Smith appeared in 2005) had not yet completely taken off, so whispers about the good-looking yet wayward boys were limited to giggle-riddled discussions held in the privacy of homes, barbershops/salons, and offices. But since then, Facebook, Twitter and other Web 2.0 mediums had opened new forms of communication, where people could bravely offer their opinions to strangers as an anonymous web presence, or express their interests in all sorts of mundane activities.

Facebook, for instance, has fan pages and groups dedicated to obscure artists, films, pop culture references, controversies and other random items. While some are serious (“We Condemn The Maguindanao Massacre & Demand Justice For The Victims,” “Stop Violence Against Women”), there are also some that are admittedly nonsensical (“When I was your age, we had to blow on the video games to make them work,” “Edward Cullen is a fictional character and he will never love you,” “I’m always tired because I become a superhero at night”).

Many Facebook pages are put up in the spirit of fun and are not meant to be taken seriously. However, the more controversial ones—such as Ivler’s Facebook site, which is already established as a non-ironic, actual support page—should be given more attention, primarily because of the unethical content that could possibly influence uninformed parties, primarily the youth.

In 2009, Facebook received flak for initially refusing to delete groups/fan pages that supported the Holocaust denial. Spokesman Barry Schnitzen pointed out that the social networking site was created so ideas—even controversial ones—could be discussed. However, the groups (“Holocaust: A Series of Lies,” and “Holocaust is a Holohoax”) were eventually deleted, much to the relief of relatives of victims of the Holocaust. On a smaller scale, the Internet is also full of sites that support anorexia and bulimia, which are popular with teens looking to lose weight.
While Ivler’s case is in no way comparable to the Holocaust, and that yes, he is entitled to a fair trial, the principle is the same: his Facebook fan page glorifies the traits that got landed him in a gloomy hospital, riddled with bullets, in the first place. And the thing is, the page isn’t even something he started or maintains himself—it’s the work of his “fans,” who egg on their idol to continue his “gangsta” ways, or fail to see beyond his Amboy good looks and bad-boy vibe in order to analyze the issue at hand.

Is it an indication of things to come? Hopefully not. Some users, such as Julienne Yee, expressed their indignation over the page content. “I reported this to Facebook,” she wrote. “Hopefully, they do something about it. It’s just wrong.”

True, the Internet should be kept as a means of unregulated communication and self-expression. However, should unethical content really be left to its own devices, unguarded and ready to spring on unsuspecting and uninformed users?

Email the author at biancaconsunji@yahoo.com or visit www.twenteensomething.com