Months of attempting to stay out of the public eye did not shield the family of Quezon City Councilor Alfred Vargas from what his wife describes as a sustained campaign of false accusations online—prompting Yasmine Vargas to take legal action.
Yasmine has filed 20 counts of cyber libel against individuals she holds responsible for social media posts she says have deliberately targeted her, her husband, and their children. While she named no one in her public statement, the filing follows a trail of legal moves the couple has made in recent weeks tied to a bullying incident involving their son.
“Ngunit sa halip, nagpatuloy ang mga posts sa social media na naglalaman ng maling paratang laban sa akin, sa aking asawa, at sa aming pamilya—even after we chose to remain silent,” Yasmine wrote on Facebook.
She said the couple had sought a quiet resolution as far back as February. “We tried to handle this quietly and peacefully—para sa kapakanan ng aming mga anak, na dumaan na sa matinding sakit at trauma,” she said, but added that continuing to stay silent was no longer viable.
“Hindi na po ito maaaaring magpatuloy. These claims are false and are meant to damage our name and reputation,” she wrote.
The cyber libel complaint is the second legal action the couple has initiated. On April 13, Alfred and Yasmine filed a criminal complaint against the parents of the child they allege bullied their son, citing violations of Republic Act No. 7610, the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act.
Alfred has described the bullying as a pattern rather than a single event. Among the incidents he recounted was one he said occurred during a swimming competition at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in February, where he and others reportedly witnessed the alleged bully pushing his son poolside during warm-ups.
He also described a separate incident he said caused his family significant distress: “Mayroon pa ngang ginawa yung bully na hindi talaga appropriate at sobrang sakit sa kalooban namin. Kinadyot niya ‘yung anak ko sa malaswang paraan at nung nakita ng misis ko at sinabi sa nanay, tinawanan pa ng nanay at sinabi, ‘He’s just dancing.'”
Alfred said attempts to speak with the other child’s parents repeatedly went nowhere. “Every time we go to the parents to try to resolve these issues, we were either dismissed or gaslighted,” he said.
On April 15, actor Rob Sy identified himself on Facebook as the father of the child being accused. He pushed back firmly against the allegations, writing: “Sobrang sakit bilang magulang na maakusahan ang aking eight-year-old na anak lalo na’t hindi totoo at malinaw na binaliktad ang naratibo. Tama na! Sobra na! Labis na ang paninira.”
Yasmine, for her part, expressed confidence that the legal process would bear out the truth. “Pinili naming dumaan sa tamang proseso. Nagsampa na po kami ng reklamo at kalakip nito ang aming ebidensya. Tiwala po kami na lalabas ang katotohanan,” she wrote.
She framed her decision to speak out in terms of her role as a mother. “Bilang isang ina, hindi ko po kayang manahimik habang patuloy na nasasaktan ang aking anak at pamilya,” she said, adding that she was also standing up for other children who experience bullying.
