“He said, she said.” That continues to be the theme of the controversy around social personality Nusier Yassin (Nas Daily) and Cacao Project founder Louise Mabulo.
In his latest video post, released on Aug. 9, 2021, Nas Daily explains his side, describing the Louise’s Cacao Project as a fake story.
"Every time we make a video, there is a chance that it is fake. So we have to do research. We go to the internet. We check things on the ground. We talk to people again and again to verify," he says. "And one day, unfortunately, we stumbled upon a fake story in the Philippines, which is the Cacao Project. On paper, it was supposed to be a non-profit that helps farmers. In reality, it is a for-profit that exploits farmers."
To back his claims, Nas also shows in the video the reaction of his team that went to cover the program in Camarines Sur in 2019.
Looking back at Louise's statement last Aug. 5 2021, she said that she has been fully transparent in their phone calls saying, "I didn't think my work would be something he'd be able to visualize, and that there's too many factors to the work that I do that wouldn't possibly be covered in under a minute—and that it would come to be the kind of content he wanted in five years time, but not now."
After the Nas' video release, Louise has reposted as a response a post from Val Turtur, former chairman of Philippine Cacao Industry Council.
In it, Turtur said that he "can personally attest that Mayor Fermin and Louise are very passionate about cacao farming" and that "if during 2018 there was not much to show, it because that was the year they started in cacao farming." He also noted that,. unlike other produce, cacao takes two to three years before its fruits become ripe for harvest.
Louise also pinned on her page an episode of MTV Asia's "Generation Change," which was filmed in 2019 with Miss International 2016 Kylie Verzosa.
Watch Nas Daily's video here.