Abante asks NBI to probe viral social media posts against him

Manila 6th District Representative Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. on Friday, 23 October, asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate recent social media posts targeting him.

Abante said the posts contained false and damaging allegations that warranted an investigation.

The viral posts identified the congressman as the pastor allegedly banned from golf courses in Antipolo City for inappropriately touching women.

Abante is considering filing cyber libel cases, among other legal actions, against those responsible for the posts.

He submitted links to the social media posts to the NBI and asked the agency to preserve the content and identify those behind the accounts.

The posts stemmed from a blind item in a column about a pastor allegedly banned from Antipolo golf clubs over claims of inappropriate physical contact with women. The column later clarified that the blind item did not refer to Abante, who is also a pastor and plays golf.

Abante denied any connection to the allegations, saying he had not played golf in Antipolo.

He said he did not know the motive behind the posts but urged his critics to be truthful in their claims.