The issue on Palestinean-Israeli video blogger Nas Daily is far from over.
This after Nas Daily reacted to the viral post of The Cacao Project founder Louise Emmanuelle De Guzman Mabulo.
In there, Louise deemed Nas “exploitative” and “fueling a neocolonialist narrative using our need for foreign validation.”
Then she declared: “We are not content to be exploited. We are not a culture to be capitalized. We are not people to be romanticized. Or poverty to set the scene for “Benevolent Saviors.” We are more than what the world thinks of us.”
She related that people like Nas represents the “new wave of colonialism.”
But according to Nas, he also has kept his silence for two years out of respect to Louise.
“But I can't let you share falsehoods on the Internet for free,” he said.
The online content creator related how he was “very inspired” by the Filipina’s story that he flew in from Singapore to the Province in the Philippines just to “support” her.
“As you can see in the picture, we are trying to tell the world about your story. By the way, no other media did that. They just report from their fancy offices. But we wanted to go the extra mile for you,” he noted.
However, Nas said that the story was “not true on the ground.”
“Once we arrived at your plantation, once we saw the village and talked to the farmers, we came to the conclusion that there is no story here. That the awards on the Internet are just that...awards,” he said.
“Our investigation has made it clear that your story in the media is false. And that there are no "200 farmers" that you work with, and there are no Cacao plantations that you don't personally profit from.”
He reiterated that they had to pack up and leave because they will never ever put “fake news.”
“When we told you in person that we believe your story is not true, you understood us and you bid us farewell. We thanked you for your time and your hospitality and we went back to the airport. In fact, we took nice pictures with your family before we left.
The Cacao project you mentioned is a family business which you profit from,” he said.
Then went on how he flew back to Singapore “disappointed.”
In the latter part, Nas gave pieces of advice to Louise.
“Be truthful about your work. The Cacao Project is not as truthful as the media says it is,” he said.
“Do not share online falsehoods. That is borderline illegal. Everything you said is with malicious intent and it is clearly not how I speak. We have 5 years of evidence to back that up. 40% of my company is Filipino. Our actions back up our words,” he added.
Nas capped off his lengthy post about his realization that sometimes good intentions do go “unnoticed.”
“In fact, good intentions get punished sometimes. But examples like yours will never stop us from believing in the good of humanity. We will continue to support the Philippines and we will continue to promote people who need their story told,” he said.
“Hopefully one day, I can come back and tell your story again. You are, after all, an inspiring individual.”
Note that Nas was supposed to cover Louise on The Cacao Project, where for her efforts, the Filipina was named Young Champion of the Earth for 2019 by the United Nations Environment Programme.
She was also featured at Forbes Asia’s “30 Under 30” in the Social Entrepreneurs category.
Louise opened up about her experience in the light of recent news involving Nas and the 104-year-old Kalinga tattoo master Whang-od.